Translated material
"Exclusively Russian stupidity"
The reconstruction of the central Moscow streets is carried out poorly, experts say
Architect Andrei Korovyansky, collaborating with the Moscow authorities, criticized the quality of improvement work that is carried out in the center of the Russian capital. He wrote a post on Facebook about this. Andrey Korovyansky - chief engineer of the landscaping project of part of the territory of the Central Bank of the Central Bank named after Gorky, the chief architect of the project and the supervisor of the restoration of landscaping the central part of VDNH, the head of the design bureau of the studio "Living Form Architecture".
According to Korovyansky, the speed with which the improvement of Moscow streets is carried out, makes us doubt that everything will be done efficiently. The base and design of the coating of sidewalks is created with technological flaws, work is carried out without taking into account geological data using inalisive materials. There are complaints to the level of professionalism of workers, many of which do not have the necessary qualifications. All this will lead to the fact that in a few years the sidewalks in the center of Moscow will destroy, Andrei Korovyansky believes.
Andrei Korovyansky spoke in an interview with Radio Liberty about why he decided to write this post and whether after him expects any changes in the concept of Moscow improvement.
- How do you, in principle, feel about the current improvement of Moscow: road repair, expanding sidewalks - to the fact that many people criticize today?
Andrey Korovyansky
- I believe that this is very good and it had to be done for a long time, systematically and every year. Such a huge country and a large capital cannot live without comfortable streets and squares. And I think this is a huge plus.
- As far as I understood, you have serious complaints about the quality of the work that are being done now ...
- Most of all I am worried about shortened terms. For the sake of fulfilling tasks in these terms, sacrificing the quality of the base. They can sacrifice any questions on the structural features of the work. Well, and reporting. So some questions do not suit me.
- What can you say about the professionalism of people who repair the sidewalks in Moscow?
Moscow, reconstruction of Malaya Dmitrovka
- They are very different. There are professional workers, there are unprofessional. Unfortunately, in Russia there is no "category". Previously, in the USSR, masons had discharges. This is preserved in Belarus now. This allows you to see the quality of the brigade when checking the work. See what experts work. It is fine if the mason of the 5th or 6th category comes across. Such a mason freely “reads” drawings, perfectly performs work ... Unfortunately, in the Russian Federation the discharges were removed, and anyone goes to the mason. This reduces the quality of work. But these are indirect signs. The whole problem should be considered as a whole. It seems to me that it is also very important that in many ways technical supervision is moved to the second part. Many people sacrifice technical supervision.
- Why do you think this is how it turns out? Are there really no experienced people, engineers, technologists, architects, workers?
Moscow, reconstruction of Malaya Dmitrovka
- The authorities, in fact, made a very good decision - to improve Moscow. And this appeared, I think, based on very rational principles. And when the task was set, a huge number of people were involved. Because, in fact, this is a very large -scale construction. Since there were a lot of newcomers without work experience, they began to make some not too professional offers and, perhaps, not suitable for us, foreign experience, primarily warmer countries, European countries or America. We began to copy the same designs that, unfortunately, do not work for us. The second is that such short terms were set. Many who took these contracts began to report to the management that they would do everything on time. I know about this, because I was present at a huge number of meetings, where the contractors stated that everything would be fine, but according to the results (I oversaw most of the work related to the improvement of the garden ring and some parks), certain problems were manifested that they tried to quickly disguise the upper layers of the coating.
- And what are these problems related to?
- The fact is that the designs in improvement work very peculiarly, depending on different factors. The coating may begin to fail in 3-7 years. The top layer is not an indicator. We must watch the whole structure. And the design is checked by technical supervision.
- What can this lead to? After a few years, they will start to shift again, it turns out?
- I think yes, in many places. Unfortunately, these problems are already visible in some places.
- But the same thing is not the first time in Moscow. Constantly shifting something. It seems that the task is not to put a high-quality sidewalk, but to get and cut the money. Do you see the corruption component in the fact that the improvement work is carried out poorly?
Moscow, reconstruction of Malaya Dmitrovka
- No, this is such a hokhma for "defenders" or "human rights activists" who like to find problems where they are not. The main problem is precisely in the absence of professionalism. Both customers and designers, builders and supervisory authorities. It is necessary to tighten the tender selection, it is necessary to license the designers, you need to dig deeper and conduct the reform of education. And most importantly, we must tighten responsibility for errors. This is very important.
- Well, and if you return to Moscow improvement. What other difficulties can be here?
- There are several more serious factors. For example, our nets do not lie in special channels, which allow you to quickly remove communications and replace them, but, as a rule, directly after coatings. And the networks need to be repaired, you need to lay new ones, so you have to change the covered coatings.
- Do you yourself cooperate with the Moscow authorities on similar projects?
- I was one of the three professional experts under the Governor of the Moscow Region under the Parks program in the Moscow Region and the curator of this program, a professional expert “People’s Park”. I am still GIP (chief engineer of the project. - RS) in some parts of the territory of the Gorky Park, and for the improvement and landscaping of VDNH - the central part.
Moscow, reconstruction of Malaya Dmitrovka
The problems that are mentioned above are well known to me. I was offered to oversee the project on Tverskaya Street. But I did not participate in the development of the project, I do not know what construction there is. And to bear responsibility, to be extreme, the scapegoat does not really want to be. A lot of problems, starting from designers who simply do not know the composition of the documentation or violate the requirements for the drawings themselves, ending with the carelessness of the same hype. We are brought by other people's projects. And a violation of technology is already in the project. I think that 60% of the problems of improvement just begins at the project level. Recreational calculations are poorly made. It is not clear which people will go along the street, how many of them will be, who will be with strollers, some on bicycles. This is not laid in the project, everything is done like. It is not clear the amount of garbage that the architect should actually be considered. Then, when you go to the construction site with the documents, it is impossible to press the builders, because not everything that should be described there. And the fact that officials are not hired by those people ... officials are not professionals in the construction business. They are curators, leaders. They are given the task - to check. They check in turnover, on gliders, on flyers, and not on the street.
-And you are not afraid that after criticism of Moscow improvement you will have any problems with orders?
- I don't think there will be problems. For once, the leadership of Moscow is now more or less normal people. All these problems are known. I don't think I said something new.
-Do you think after your post, after your criticism, something will change? Will they listen to you?
- This is a post on Facebook. You can write about fishing that nothing is caught. This is not serious. In this case, consider this such a personal critical statement ...
“Why did you write this?” Is it boiling?
- Yes. Seeing all these absurdities is unpleasant. I have been from Minsk, I have been working in Moscow since 2001. In Belarus, this is simply impossible, everything is very clearly built there. The technical supervision and state control work very hard. Constituities are constantly taking place. And most importantly, licensing is correctly arranged. Both the main architects and the main engineers are licensed. They regularly pass exams and only after that receive admission to work. But like here, technological processes are being conducted in Moscow ... You constantly look at these roads, coatings that are redone, redid and redo. This is exclusively Russian stupidity. There is such a moment: as if with pomp speaks about greatness, and at the same time stupid things are going on. First of all, this is unprofessionalism. I think this is the essence of the problem.