UST: News

Under the instruction of the management of MIIT (Institute of Railways and Structures under the Russian University of Transport) SkyWay EcoTechnoPark was visited by the Professor of the Department "Bridges and Tunnels", Doctor of technical Sciences Vladimir Fridkin. Following the visit, it is planned to sign a cooperation agreement between the University and SkyWay project designing organization. The promising areas of cooperation include the joint study of specific technical conditions for various types of SkyWay rail-string overpasses. In the near future, a working group composed of representatives from both the organizations will be created for this purpose.

The beginning of cooperation with MIIT that started with the present expert's visit has a special significance in the historical context of the string transport development. In 2006, the specialists of this University prepared a negative expert examination on the string transport (the only of a kind). According to the admission of the Institute's representatives preserved in the correspondence with the General designer Anatoly Yunitskiy, the expert examination was conducted at that time under the conditions of lacking data on the technology and a limited resource of time (2 weeks). The Customer of the expert examination provided to the Contractor (MIIT) "a small number of materials, including a CD-ROM with the report of academician Anatoly Yunitskiy "Feasibility study on creating Unitsky String Transport in the city of Khabarovsk" [...] Any specific guidance in terms of loads, speeds, etc. was not given. The Contractors were proposed to use the extensive information on UST available in print and online." Thus, the examination was in fact performed on the basis of promotional materials, without reference to the design models and schemes, the results of experimental design works and design documentation that has been repeatedly pointed out by Anatoly Yunitskiy and is now confirmed by one of the leading experts of the scientific institution that was the Contractor of that expert examination.

Vladimir Fridkin's testimony confirms the fact that the experts did not have enough data for the objective assessment of the functionality and safety of string transport:

— MIIT did an expert examination of the string transport some time ago and it was negative. What can you say about it?

— Yes. I was its participant. At that time there was no that solution for passage over the pylons of the bridge. And it was one of the most important nuances, which I doubted. Besides, it seemed to me that these systems would not be productive and efficient.

— If you were doing the expert examination of the string transport today, what would it be to your opinion?

— Only positive. Now we are going to work on perfection and preparation of various available special materials and technical conditions for its implementation and operation.

Congratulations to all the supporters of SkyWay project with another small victory. Former critics become advocates, and the new ones have less and less arguments. They all get crashed against the inviolable criterion of truth - practice.

Translation of the video:

Evgeny Petrov: Please introduce yourself. Tell us who you are and what your occupation is.

Vladimir Fridkin: Vladimir Fridkin. Professor at the Department "Bridges and Tunnels" of the Institute of Railways and Structures under the Russian University of Transport (MIIT).

E.P.: Pleased to meet you.

V.F.: Today I am deeply convinced that the string transport will become in the coming decades a mass phenomenon in many countries of the world. It will make a great contribution to the development and provision of safety for our civilization.

E.P.: Have you acquired this opinion after what you have seen here?

V.F.: Yes, from what I saw today, because I have been dealing with cable suspended ways and bridges being in operation until now for about 30 years. And it would be not easy to make such conclusions based on the lack of information. Now the technical solution of a string transportation system is designed, worked out and even implemented, although in the pilot version so far, for several variants of transported cargo with various spans between supports. I think that any of the four variants that I saw today at the test site will be implemented not only in the Republic of Belarus, but at a much larger scale also in the Russian Federation and, probably, in many other regions of the world.

E.P.: Did you have any skepticism before you saw it?

V.F.: Yes, I had some skepticism, because I hadn't seen the technical solution over the support zone of the cable. I did not know about it. I did not know either about the solution to hide the pre-stressed cable inside a steel casing. Today I saw this innovative progress and it puts everything in place.

E.P.: So, do you think the string transport will succeed?

V.F.: The string transport will succeed undoubtedly.

E.P.: Excuse me for a specific question. We know that MIIT did an expert examination of the string transport some time ago and it was negative.

V.F.: Yes. I was its participant. At that time there was no that solution for passage over the pylons of the bridge. And it was one of the most important nuances, which I doubted. Besides, it seemed to me that these systems would not be productive and efficient.

E.P.: If you were doing the expert examination of the string transport today, what would it be to your opinion?

V.F.: Only positive. Now we are going to work on perfection and preparation of various available special materials and technical conditions for its implementation and operation.