Students from Yekaterinburg, Kemerovo, Moscow, Tyumen and Ukhta who study at the summer school of the St. Petersburg Mining University in the field of “Geomechanics” got acquainted with the construction of the Teatralnaya station. This excursion was a part of the visiting master class “Review of technological solutions used in deep-laid station construction.”
For the majority of young people, representing regional universities, this visit to the metro was the first in their life. And they began to get to know the subway not from the vestibule, like regular passengers, but from the shaft of the mine near the Mariinsky Theater. That’s where the guys went down into the tunnel.
"This training format is a very good combination of education and recreation when young people can not only visit new cities but also gain additional knowledge and skills. We manage to warm up their interest through an optimal combination of theoretical and practical classes, as well as visits to partner companies' production facilities," said Andrey Katerov, postgraduate student of the Department of Mining Construction and Underground Structures at Mining University, who supervises the summer school.
The program of the future geomechanics school includes not only lectures on topics such as underground space development in a major metropolis or digital transformation of the construction industry, but also a case study engineering championship and a foresight session “Development of sustainable city development strategy”. However, the most anticipated event was the visit to the subway.
“We got unforgettable emotions when we went down into the mine," said Maria Oskolkova from Ukhta Technical University. “To be honest, it’s very hard for me to imagine how strong and courageous people work there. For this, you need to be a man of great health and a high level of moral and psychological training. I am sure that the knowledge we got during the tour will broaden our horizons and be useful for us in the future, so thank you very much to the organizers of the summer school.
As explained Andrei Katerov, during this master class, students saw with their own eyes how tunneling is performed and visited the middle station tunnel, as well as the two side tunnels. In addition, specialists from Lenmetrogiprotrans told them about the problems related to the settlement of buildings as a result of work at Teatralnaya station. He showed sensors installed in the yards on Dekabristov Street to control deformation after the lift.
In total, more than two hundred students from 25 universities - members of the Nedra Consortium - have taken part in the second stage of the St. Petersburg Mining University Summer Schools, which began July 12. They were engaged in such areas as “Geodesy”, “Geomechanics”, “Smart Energy Efficient House”, “Environmental Safety of Megacity”, as well as “Business Ethics and Foreign Language Communication”.
