Roads are the blood vessels of the country.
General condition of Russian roads
Roads connect the regions of the state into a single transport, economic and political space. Neglect of the state of this branch of the national infrastructure can lead to tragic consequences. More recently, the bulk of the Russian roads terrified and disheartened.
The roads were not only bad, they were impassable due to the condition of the roadway. The question was not about how long it takes to get there, but about the very possibility of movement without destroying equipment due to the destruction of the chassis.
Today the situation is being radically corrected by the efforts of the Russian leadership. The situation is improving, and the main highways of the country are being intensively put in order. The cost level is perplexing, why are roads so expensive? It becomes obvious that the availability of normal roads in the country is not the result of a one-time effort, but a constant set of costly activities.
Climatic factors
The natural conditions of the territory are a determining factor in the price of communications. They answer the question of why roads are so expensive. Severe winters and hot summers adversely affect their condition. The depth of soil freezing in Russia averages one and a half meters. Frosty heap of water-saturated soil causes the destruction of the road surface. This is one of the reasons why roads are so expensive. In the hot season, the destruction and deformation of the asphalt layer occurs.
Building technology
A well-built road requires advanced construction technologies and a large amount of work. Attempts to reduce the cost of construction result in a significant deterioration in quality. Fulfillment of all technological requirements is very costly. But it’s hard for a layman to explain the scale of the costs and prove why the roads are so expensive.
To understand the level of costs, it is enough to recall that a good foundation of the road requires digging the soil to the depth of its freezing and replacing it with carefully compacted sand with certain physical parameters. In addition to expensive equipment, there is a need to transport materials over a considerable distance. And this is just one of the factors determining why the roads are so expensive.
Web load
Of great importance is the magnitude of the traffic load on the road. Almost all of the old communications were not designed for heavy traffic heavy vehicles. Not only the asphalt surface is destroyed, but also the base of the roadway. Permanent repair only allows you to maintain the highway in working condition. The need for such work explains why roads are so expensive. The high costs of maintaining existing communications can save time before the complete reconstruction of the canvas.
The perception of the traffic load without destroying the canvas requires an increase in the thickness of the asphalt concrete pavement, the use of modern technology for laying asphalt, which allows for a dense and smooth coating. Special formulations of asphalt are required, allowing it to withstand heavy traffic heavy traffic. That is why the roads are so expensive.
Changing formulations and improving the quality of the asphalt mix is provided by more expensive equipment and careful adherence to technologies.
The price of construction and operation
The price of road construction includes not only the canvas, but also the entire surrounding infrastructure. Modern highways require the construction of multi-level interchanges, organization of exits, reconstruction of bridges and drainage structures. Given the volume of costs, it is easy to understand why roads in Russia are so expensive. Almost nothing remains of the old road.
It should be noted that construction work during the reconstruction of roads is carried out in the conditions of existing highways. Although both parties experience inconvenience, for builders this means a decrease in the pace of work and an increase in the cost of the facility.
Another factor explaining why roads are so expensive is the level of operating costs. The main load falls on the autumn-winter period. The roads have to be sprinkled with reagents and cleaned from ice over a huge extent.
A significant number of people and specialized equipment are involved in the work. A huge amount of reagents takes to sprinkle the tracks. Relatively cheap compositions, for example, a sand-salt mixture, adversely affect the asphalt surface, causing erosion and destruction. Gentle compositions are much more expensive.
In addition to technology, winter road maintenance requires considerable manual labor. Removal of snow and ice from the elements of road construction, noise screens, barrier fences, walkways and sidewalks, while being done mainly by hand.
Is there a way out?
A change in the situation with communication lines should be expected only after large-scale investments in their construction are made. The main one-time costs relate to the device of the base of the roadway of the required configuration and profile.
The cost of excavation and related work explains why road construction is so expensive in Russia. Replacing weak, water-saturated soils, raising the canvas to the design elevation or cutting off the excessive level of the route will create the basis for a new level of road network.
Further operation will include road maintenance costs dictated by seasonality. These are unavoidable costs, determined by geographical and climatic reasons. Major investments will already be made at the construction stage.
The restoration of asphalt concrete pavement with timely and prompt maintenance will be much cheaper than the current level. A properly arranged base and improved road surface will reduce the degree of wear of the roadway.