How to achieve specialization, mechanization and standardization of highway maintenance

Zhengzhou is located in the Central Plains, at the junction of China and the West. In recent years, our city has made remarkable achievements in the construction, maintenance and management of trunk roads. Among the 666.1 kilometers of trunk roads under its management (four national highways and eight provincial highways), 462.4 kilometers have reached the second-class road standard, and GBM project and civilized model road sections have been completed respectively. Reaching 402.4 kilometers and 266 kilometers, a road network based on the "meter" character skeleton and the "kou" character centered on Zhengzhou has been basically formed, which has greatly enhanced the traffic capacity of the highway, thereby effectively promoting the development of the city's urban and rural economy.

However, with the improvement of the status and role of road transportation in the national economy, large traffic flow, large load capacity and high-speed driving have become obvious features of contemporary highway transportation, and at the same time, they have also put forward new requirements for highway maintenance. Requirements: Construction is development, and maintenance is also development. Modern highways require maintenance operations to be fast, safe, high-quality, and low-cost, providing road users with comfortable and complete service functions;

The progress of social civilization also requires highway maintenance to gradually replace manual operations with mechanization, as far as possible It is possible to improve the working conditions of maintenance workers and reduce labor intensity. Maintenance mechanization is the most important means to improve the quality, speed and efficiency of highway maintenance operations, and is the material basis for realizing the transformation of traditional maintenance methods into modern maintenance methods. Therefore, reforming the organizational form of highway maintenance and accelerating the process of maintenance mechanization are objective requirements for the development of the highway industry.

In recent years, the city’s main highway department has begun to implement the practice of merging trail classes and establishing mechanized industrial zones. At the same time, the "Zhengzhou Highway Maintenance Management Measures" and the "Highway Maintenance Project Tendering Methods" were formulated based on Zhengzhou's own conditions, and the maintenance organization form was reformed. So far, gratifying results have been achieved, and there are many established experiences and practices.

1. The thoughts and process of the construction of mechanized industrial zones:

During the Ninth Five-Year Plan, the city’s trunk roads entered a new stage of rapid development. Various shortcomings of the highway management system and maintenance operation mechanism formed under the framework of the planned economy have gradually emerged, seriously restricting the development of productivity, mainly in the following aspects:

1. Unreasonable maintenance organization form : There are 56 roads in the city distributed on 661.1 kilometers of roads. The vast majority of road classes follow traditional maintenance methods, which results in high labor intensity, low production efficiency, and poor maintenance quality.

2. Simple and extensive management, low maintenance level: 56 road classes are scattered on road sections of different grades, making it difficult to unify maintenance standards and ensure quality. Coupled with unclear management rights and responsibilities, some counties (cities) have relaxed requirements on management work, have imperfect systems, lax inspections and assessments, and generally have low road maintenance levels.

3. The awareness of competition is weak and the problem of overstaffing is prominent: the personal income of most maintenance workers is not really linked to the quality of their work. Road maintenance workers generally lack the sense of competition and sit on the "roster" to collect fees. On the one hand, maintenance funds are tight, and on the other hand, the situation of "supporting people but not roads" is getting worse.

These problems have seriously restricted the improvement of the overall level of highway maintenance in our city. In recent years, we have organized efforts to conduct research on the implementation of maintenance mechanization in our province and surrounding provinces and cities, formed a common understanding, and regarded promoting maintenance mechanization as a long-term strategic policy. The maintenance mileage of provincial trunk roads in all countries is 50 A standard work area will be built for each area of ??more than 100 kilometers, so that transportation, mixing, paving, compaction, thermal oil heating and other processes can all be mechanized. 6 counties (cities) in the city have planned 6 work area.

At the beginning of the construction of the highway maintenance mechanized industrial zone, due to our lack of scientific analysis of the investment scale and maintenance costs, coupled with the single management method and the low overall quality of the employees, the completed industrial zones varied greatly. Signs of high construction costs and low equipment utilization have emerged and are expanding. Facts tell us that realizing maintenance mechanization is a complex system engineering. It involves a series of issues such as work area location selection, mechanical modeling, staffing, equipment management, etc. It is unrealistic to try to solve it overnight. At the beginning, due to the organizational form of maintenance mechanization and how to exert the benefits of mechanization, they were still in the initial and exploratory stages, lacking mature experience. Therefore, to solve this problem, we must conduct systematic analysis and exploration of maintenance mechanization during implementation and seek the basis for scientific decision-making.

We have decided to suspend the construction of new work areas until the problem is resolved.

The research topic "Key Issues in Highway Maintenance Mechanization" was formulated. The Municipal Highway Bureau organized manpower to conduct in-depth investigations and studies based on the management model of the work area, the demand for large and medium repair and renovation projects, the selection and configuration of machinery, and other factors. . The results show that based on the maintenance and production costs at that time, a work area must complete 15 kilometers of overhaul or 30 kilometers of intermediate repair every year so that the machinery and staff in the work area can play their best role. If the level is lower than this level, machinery will be idle and labor will be wasted; due to The equipment in the mechanized maintenance work area mainly depends on the investment in road maintenance fees. In order to prevent the use of equipment to obtain the interests of small groups, practical measures must be taken to strengthen equipment management; the production and management personnel in the corresponding work area must optimize their selection, improve their level, and update their concepts. . In short, maintenance mechanization is an organically linked comprehensive operation process and system management system. Its goal is to achieve the best economic and technical orientation of the entire system, rather than the optimization of a certain machine or a certain process.

We position the mechanized industrial area with the purpose of achieving mutual coordination between highway maintenance goals and mechanized means, with the premise of improving the comprehensive benefits of maintenance production, and by building standardized maintenance areas as a means to gradually make the maintenance areas The serialization of mechanical equipment, standardization of management, and professionalization of personnel are aimed at improving the quality of highway maintenance operations and labor productivity, reducing maintenance production costs, and making the level of highway maintenance operations compatible with the overall development level of society.

Based on this survey and research, we have made appropriate adjustments to the planning and layout of the work areas. From the original plan to set up one work area every 50 kilometers of the trunk line to cover every 60 kilometers, we have gradually formed a set of work area construction and the basic ideas of management and gradually implement them in practice.

2. Standardization and implementation of the construction of mechanized industrial zones.

The mechanized maintenance work area is not only a basic unit in the competition in the maintenance market, but also an important link in the process of maintenance mechanization. Therefore, it is crucial to do a good job in the construction of work areas. On the basis of careful summary and extensive research, we formulated the "Implementation Opinions on Strengthening the City's Highway Maintenance Mechanization" and proposed the basic norms, technical principles and implementation measures for highway maintenance mechanization.

1. The work area is set up based on the principle of "combination of work area and road maintenance", and the maintenance work area and road maintenance team are set up. Maintenance work areas are generally set up on national and provincial trunk lines of Level 2 and above, with radiation failure every 60 kilometers as the scope of maintenance operations. Breaking down administrative boundaries and competing through quality, price, and service, maintenance projects can be undertaken across districts and counties. The trail teams within the radiation range will be withdrawn and merged, and the trail teams outside the radiation range will be retained as appropriate. Their main tasks are maintenance operations such as road cleaning, road shoulder repair, and street tree management that are suitable for manual completion.

Because the mechanical configuration of the maintenance area is based on 60 kilometers of radiation as the main control indicator. For our city, basically one county (city) has a standard work area with basically complete machinery.

The principle of selecting a work area is "close to the city but not in the city, so it is easy to manage; in the middle of the route, it is easy to radiate; and it is close to the stone quarry, so it is easy to produce." In the specific operation, different conditions in different places must be considered and comprehensive trade-offs must be considered. . The construction of production and living users in the work area must be reasonably laid out, with suitable facilities, clean environment, and convenient production.

2. Mechanical configuration.

At present, the focus of highway maintenance mechanization in our city is to realize the mechanization of major and medium highway repairs, pavement disease treatment and compaction, improve the quality of road repair and maintenance, and make material transportation, mixture mixing, and roadbed pavement compaction more efficient. Major processes such as construction, road excavation and paving have been basically mechanized. At the same time, attention is paid to improving the level of mechanized operations such as road cleaning, road shoulder cleaning, highway greening, and emergency rescue. Based on the main content of maintenance operations and the actual situation in various places, we have proposed a mechanical configuration reference table for standardized maintenance work areas. The main machinery that should be equipped in a standardized maintenance work area are:

--Daily maintenance machinery: portable weeders, sprinklers, road sweepers;

--Surface maintenance machinery : 15-40 tons large asphalt mixture paver, multi-function maintenance vehicle, multi-purpose road roller;

--Material storage and supply machinery: asphalt thermal oil heating equipment, asphalt storage tank, movable asphalt Mixers, generator sets;

--Shipping machinery: maintenance dump trucks, loaders, asphalt transport tanks, self-tank trucks, transport trucks.

In terms of mechanical configuration, highway departments in each county are required to unify the machine models as much as possible, use standardized series, and consider the selection of machinery based on advanced technical and economic indicators.

Each county's highway department determines the appropriate proportion of investment in maintenance machinery in the maintenance plan every year based on actual conditions, and steadily increases investment in mechanical equipment and supporting facilities year by year. The Municipal Bureau will provide appropriate subsidies depending on the scale of the maintenance machinery. In recent years, the city has invested more than 10 million yuan in the construction of mechanized industrial zones.

While building the maintenance work area, we also specifically require the simultaneous establishment of a small laboratory, equipped with equipment that can meet the routine testing of asphalt, sand and gravel and other materials, and strictly control the materials to effectively improve road maintenance. quality.

3. Work area management.

In actual operations, we pay attention to strengthening basic management, establishing and improving maintenance machinery management and repair systems, so that maintenance management work can be followed. Large-scale equipment with good quality, high price and little use in some areas will be purchased and managed by the municipal bureau and used for a fee through entrustment leasing. General equipment will be managed by the county (city) branch. The general number of work area management personnel is 3 to 5 people, and the "one long and three divisions" system is adopted, that is, the work area director, machinist, road and bridge engineer and accounting statistician. Each county (city) highway section is required to carefully select the person in charge of the work area, reasonably adjust the personnel structure, introduce engineering and technical personnel, adjust the general staff from the original maintenance personnel, and at the same time strengthen the technical training of mechanical operators. Make workers good at operation, maintenance and repair, and have one specialty and multiple abilities.

3. Changes and results brought about by the construction of mechanized industrial zones.

What is incompatible with the rapid changes in highway construction levels and maintenance management methods is that the competitive awareness of maintenance workers is still weak, their ideas are still outdated, and there is still a common problem among maintenance employees that "compared with the past, working years are lower than in the past." There is progress every year; compared with enterprises, wages can be reflected every month. This kind of thinking of being content with the status quo, seeking stability and fearing change, always cannot get out of the original box, causing the contradiction between investment and efficiency to become more and more prominent.

Only by changing concepts can we change our work ideas and ways of working. We assessed the situation and launched a plan to reform the conservation organization form. The focus of this reform can be summarized as "letting go of both ends and stabilizing the middle." "Release the two ends" means that trail teams and fixed maintenance personnel will no longer be set up on newly built high-grade highways and existing general highways. High-grade highways will be maintained by professional teams with corresponding qualifications through bidding, and general highways will be maintained. Maintenance can be contracted by individuals or collectives; for example, the high-grade highway around the city of Zhengzhou newly built in 1999 has a total length of 32.6

km. Since the operation scope of the mechanized maintenance work area directly under the branch can cover or partially cover this road, They win the bid based on service, quality and price. Although no new work area or road team has been set up along the entire line, daily maintenance operations can still be successfully completed, keeping the road appearance in good condition. "Stabilizing the middle" means that highway authorities at all levels focus on the maintenance of national and provincial trunk roads, rely on mechanized industrial zones, accelerate the implementation of mechanized maintenance, increase investment, strengthen management, and ensure the smooth flow of national and provincial trunk roads. The core of this reform is to reduce personnel, compete for positions, and maintain them well. Since most counties (cities)

have established mechanized industrial zones, maintenance mechanization has gradually replaced manual labor as the mainstream.

While implementing the above reforms, we pay attention to the overall plan and carry out supporting reforms. The first is to introduce a competitive incentive mechanism and actively explore maintenance production and maintenance management models under the new situation. For example, the Xinmi City highway section implements tendering for minor repairs and maintenance. Open and fair bidding is used to select maintenance contractors within the entire section, which has transformed the maintenance management method, reduced maintenance costs, and improved maintenance quality. In the management of Taoist classes, we implement layer-by-level recruitment, two-way selection, and competitive recruitment. Establish and improve various rules and regulations, implement quota management, and personal wages and bonuses are directly linked to work attendance and task completion, thereby mobilizing the enthusiasm of employees and enhancing their sense of responsibility; secondly, we must conscientiously do a good job in plan management, strictly assess and accept, and Measured payment is implemented for minor maintenance and medium maintenance projects; third, the bidding and bidding system, supervision system, and project legal person system are implemented for large and medium maintenance projects, and strict contract management is implemented to realize the transformation of maintenance project quality from result control to process control; fourth, focus on Scientific research and development, and actively promote the application of new materials and new technologies for maintenance. For example, our Bureau and Changsha Communications University jointly developed the application project "Pavement Research on Ultra-fine Fly Ash in Rapid Repair of Concrete Pavement" and actively explored economical highway pavement rapid repair technology. At the same time, we vigorously promote the new technology of emulsified asphalt slurry sealing layer. TST elastic-plastic treatment of expansion joints has been successful in small and medium-sized bridges.

Reducing staff and increasing efficiency will inevitably lead to the transfer and diversion of surplus personnel.

We have always attached great importance to the development of the tertiary industry as an important task to absorb wealthy people, improve the living conditions of employees and support the development of the main maintenance industry. We have taken measures to encourage the flow of agency staff to the grassroots and the flow of formal workers to the front line of production. We have formulated supporting employment policies, opened up "tertiary industries" that are close to the highway industry, and properly placed people who have been transferred to other jobs, so that this reform can be carried out steadily. For example, the Dahuting Road Class in the Xinmi City section has carried out diversified operations, replacing a minibus for passenger transportation and building a vegetable greenhouse at the same time, generating an annual income of 36,000 yuan. A series of measures such as Wangjiawo Road Class's self-raised funds to purchase a road roller and generate an income of 25,000 yuan, and the establishment of a driver training center at Shangjiejie Road Station have improved its ability to adapt to the market economy and promoted the reform and development of the industry.

Since the reform of the conservation organization form was put into practice, gratifying results have been achieved quickly. Four of the six work areas planned by our bureau have now been completed. The use of complete sets of equipment in mechanized maintenance work areas in various places has significantly improved road conditions, rapidly changed the appearance of highways in a short period of time, significantly improved the quality of highway maintenance, and greatly enhanced disaster resistance. More importantly, mechanized maintenance has liberated productivity and enabled the smooth implementation of reforms to reduce staff and increase efficiency. In the past, the backward production method that relied on "human sea tactics" and small work has been completely changed. It not only improved labor productivity and reduced the labor intensity of maintenance workers, but also fundamentally changed the "supporting people but not the road" and the problem of "supporting people but not roads". The status of the work. For example, after a new mechanized industrial zone was built on the two trunk roads managed by the Zhongmou County Highway Section, the good road rate increased by 3% year-on-year, and the income of maintenance workers also increased despite the reduction in maintenance funds. According to statistics, since 1995, while the total mileage of our highways has increased, the number of maintenance workers has decreased by nearly 10%. The contrast is very obvious. As farmers' agency workers were laid off, formal workers with insufficient education were also faced with the reality of being eliminated. They took the initiative to learn knowledge and master skills. The overall quality of maintenance workers has been improved, and their social image and status have also been improved. .

After several years of practice, we deeply feel that to reform the organizational form of highway maintenance, we must implement maintenance mechanization; for maintenance mechanization to truly exert its effectiveness, there is an urgent need to reform the existing maintenance organizational form. Therefore, we have always insisted on focusing on two aspects, one is to accelerate the process of maintenance mechanization, and the other is to reform the organizational form of highway maintenance. In practice, various units have also gained many experiences that can be used for reference. However, due to the strong policy nature of this reform and its wide coverage, it is a gradual and gradual improvement process. For example, after the highway maintenance mechanized industrial zone fully enters the market, how to unify the qualification issues with highway engineering companies, etc., we need to continue to discuss these.