Dear Sirs!

CREON Energy has the pleasure of inviting you to the Seventh International «Bitumen, Products and Binders 2018» Conference, which is held at Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow on September 11, 2018.

For several years now, Rosavtodor, the Russian road agency, has been trying to introduce transition from a 6-year inter-maintenance period to 12-year and 24-year periods for major repairs of non-rigid road surface. The Head of the agency is repeatedly noting success in the program implementation, claiming that over 82% of federal highways will be brought to adopted targets and international standards by 2019. Moreover, the government spending on roads will exceed 11 trillion rubles in the coming years, as was announced by Vladimir Putin in his address to the Federal Assembly this March.

At the same time, the experts note that sometimes expectations do not match reality. In other words, the condition of roads is (and will continue to be) deteriorating faster than the repairs are carried out. Temperature fluctuation, growing intensity of traffic, higher loading capacities, – all this undoubtedly affects the quality of the roads. How do the target repair times meet the practical needs of highway construction companies?

While introducing regulations for road quality in Russia, the government evades the problem of double standards for bitumen and binders. The two state standards are in place: the Soviet-era GOST and the Russian GOST adopted in 2016. This poses a dilemma for the oil refineries: which standard should be applied for the product to be in demand in the market? The federal highways demand innovative bitumen, but the city street network is paved with asphalt in the old-fashioned way. The asphalt mixing plants say that the difference in production of these two types of bitumen is very small. Perhaps it is worth switching to the unitary standard that meets international requirements? In any case, the government should initiate this process, instead of trying to distance itself from solving the issue.

The alternative could be abolishment of local GOST standards and transition to the international Superpave system and the PG grade: the global experience has already proved that this would be a big and important step to increasing the overhaul life of the road surface. This will help prevent the occurrence of thermal crack formation, which undoubtedly will increase the durability of pavement. There are examples of applying Superpave in Russia (under the SPAS brand): the methodology was implemented on 10 federal highways including high-intensity roads, and the performance was good.

Noting the importance of bitumen for the road industry, the role of binders should not be forgotten, too. It is particularly significant in Russia, where the climate is radically different depending on the region. And the selection of the proper binder can extend the service life of the road pavement. At the same time, the Russian standard (GOST R 520256-2003) sets properties for various polymer-bitumen binder grades, but does not specify the recommendations for their application.

The bitumen and binders market is one of the main factors in the development of road construction in Russia. In this regard, the CREON Group suggests that the situation in the bitumen industry and its development prospects be reviewed at the dedicated business conference, which has established itself as the main discussion platform for the market players.

To request more information about the event please contact us by phone +7 (495) 276-77-88, +7 (495) 797-49-07 or e-mail: org@creonenergy.ru