Technical condition features of the forest ways in the Ukrainian Carpathians

Abstract

The article presents the results of studies of the forest transport infrastruc-ture used for hauling timber, which is harvested in forest areas located on the northeastern mega-slope of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The research was carried out at two state-owned enterprises, the total forest area of which is about 105,000 hectares. Field work included determining the forest ways location, pa-rameters, and technical condition of their roadbed and artificial structures. In ad-dition, the presence of plots with road grade greater than the permissible or the radius of curves less than permissible, flooded and landslide places were deter-mined. The total length of forest ways surveys is over 360 km. The assessment of the condition of the roadbed and watercourse crossing drainage structures was carried out according to a three-point system: satisfactory condition, unsatisfac-tory condition, and not suitable for use. It has been established that the transport network of forest enterprises is represented by two types of ways: forest roads and forest driveways. At the same time, forest driveways make up a significant part of its length (32.3-53.3%). There is a low density of the transport network, which is 2.7-4.5 km / 1000 ha, taking into account all types of forest ways. The presence of significant differ-ences in the nature of the location, degree of capital, and technical condition of forest roads and driveways revealed. The forest roads have a higher share of the length of sections with a satisfactory technical condition (72-85%), as well as a significant number of capital bridges using reinforced concrete structures (22-44%). They are characterized by the presence of a road surface with aggregate or gravel (72-88%). Forest driveways are characterized by significantly lower capital and worse technical condition. For most of their length (59-64%), road surface of the lower type arranged. Wooden or combined bridges have been built at the watercourse crossings, the overwhelming majority of which have unsatisfactory technical conditions. Only about half of the forest passages have a satisfactory technical condition, and their share of those that are not suitable for use can reach a quar-ter of the total length. Also, the overwhelming majority of bridges on forest driveways have an unsatisfactory technical condition. Places with a radius of curves less than permissible, with manifestations of landslide processes or peri-odically flooded make up about 20% of the total length of forest driveways. On forest driveways, the specific number of fords is approximately three times high-er than on forest roads. Despite the absence of the term "forest driveways" in the regulatory docu-ments governing the design, construction, and operation of forest ways, they make up a significant share of the transport infrastructure in the forests of Ukraine. That confirms the need to amend the sectoral regulatory framework, which should reflect the technical, organizational, and financial aspects of creat-ing an appropriate transport infrastructure for forest areas as the basis for effec-tive forest management based on the sustainable development principles.

Keywords

• mountain forests
• transport infrastructure
• density
• types of way
• length
• loca-tion
• level of capital
• quality indicators