Recently in Internet publications (for example, [1, 2]), there have appeared notes telling that, in accordance with some American specialists’ investigations, the territory of New York is sinking relative to the sea level twice as fast as in the whole world (on average by 1–2 mm per year). That is, this is most likely not only due to the sea level rise and due to pumping of groundwater but also due to the deflection of the Earth crust under the weight of a huge number of skyscrapers. And all this may pose a certain threat to the coastal parts of the city in the future (it can increase flood risks, reduce the stability of buildings due to exposure to salt water, and even cause permanent flooding of some areas).

And now, in some notes at unscientific web forums and in some web articles, Russian journalists have begun to express similar concerns about the territory of the Moscow City skyscraper complex and other parts of the capital that have been rapidly built up by high-rise buildings (for example, [3], etc.). In the review article offered today, we will try to dispel these fears, and also to tell or remind about some interesting facts about the “Moscow City” complex.

The Italian “Maccaferri” multinational company develops efficient and environmentally friendly design solutions and manufactures products for the construction, geoengineering and mining industries based on conventional gabions and mattress-type gabions, geogrids, geotextiles, geocomposites, connected reinforced concrete blocks, etc. This company offers unique innovative systems for soil reinforcement, bank and coast protection, disaster risk reduction, etc. At that, the desired results can only be obtained with adequate site investigations, proper product selection, suitable and accurate design, and adherence to the necessary technologies during construction.

Since 1994, the “Maccaferri” company has had a division in Russia, representative offices in other CIS countries and its own plant in the Moscow region (maccaferri.com/ru/). 

We invite readers to get some information about the systems of the “Terramesh” family produced by the “Maccaferri” company for the construction of efficiently working retaining walls, embankments and slopes of reinforced soil for road construction with money and time saving.

In the end of May 2023, the IV Annual Industry Forum “Construction Management in Russia. Construction business: reboot 2023” was organized by SMART ENGINEERS group of companies.

 The participants discussed the situation in the construction market and the near-term prospects, the digitalization of the industry, the financing of projects, the problems of choosing contractors, as well as a number of issues related to the legal and financial aspects of the activities of engineering companies.

The construction of new facilities can be unsafe for neighboring buildings (especially historical ones) with shallow foundations on soft soils.

The problems and responsibilities of all the participants in the chain were discussed at the webinar “Technological settlements during the construction of a foundation pit shoring made of secant piles in the conditions of tight urban development”. The discussion was organized at the Forum-100+ online platform on the initiative of the N.M. Gersevanov NIIOSP of JSC ”NITs Stroitel’stvo”.

Technological settlements is poorly predicted. It is not always possible to reduce the risks in the construction of a foundation pit shoring made of secant piles by using various technologies of strengthening foundations. High qualifications and responsibilities of specialists who construct the building are required.

The participants of the webinar told about the objects, in the construction of which the method of secant piles was used when constructing foundation pit shorings. There were both ideal examples and deplorable ones. This problem is now widely discussed in scientific and technical circles.

The editorial staff of the “GeoInfo” journal presents here the most interesting moments that were noted at the webinar.

The number of territories where drone flights are prohibited is growing. In April, such a decision was hastily made by 40 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Then in May, the sky was already closed in more than 50 regions.

It is possible that it was easier for officials with appropriate powers to ban than to deal with the consequences of such a decision. For businesses that do not want to abandon the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), there is now only one way – to negotiate with local authorities.

Some manufacturers and users of drones told the “GeoInfo” journal about who had suffered the most from the ban, what material losses the corresponding companies would suffer, and who would continue to work despite the situation.

The State Duma has improved the Federal Law ”On Education in the Russian Federation” and has developed mechanisms for the targeted entrance, training and distribution of university graduates.

The new rules will become relevant from the first of May 2024 and will affect budgetary students. The young specialists will be required either to work for three years at a specific enterprise, or to reimburse the state for training costs

The editorial staff of the GeoInfo journal has studied this topic and has found many positive moments and at the same time pitfalls that should not be overlooked

We bring to the attention of the readers a review of the materials of the article “Importance of results obtained from geotechnical monitoring for evaluation of reinforced soil structure – case study” [1], published once before in the Journal of Applied Engineering Sciences in English. The authors of that article are Marian Drusa and Josef Vlcek, who work at the Department of Geotechnics, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Zilina (Zilina, Slovakia).

The mentioned article [1] demonstrates the important role of geotechnical monitoring of the behavior of reinforced soil structures during the construction and operation of transport infrastructure facilities in difficult geological conditions. Unfortunately, such sort of structures are often designed and built on the basis of poorly performed geotechnical surveys, or they are simply incorrectly designed in relation to the specific conditions of the construction site. This can lead to large deformations of the structure, loss of its stability, its reduced service life. At that, restoration work can be difficult and expensive.

During the modernization of the Bratislava-Trencin railway line (Slovakia), part of the embankment was reinforced with a retaining wall made of filledup soil reinforced with geosynthetics. The geotechnical monitoring data were compared in the article [1] with the results of finite element modeling of this reinforced soil structure.

The article analyzes the results of calculating settlements of ground bases of foundations using various soil models in the midas GTS NX software package and using the analytical method. The following questions are also considered: why it is necessary to determine the position of the lower boundary of the model correctly for calculation of settlements; why the results of numerical calculations using the LE, MC, HS, HSS soil models and of the analytical calculation by layer-by-layer summation differ; which soil model gives the most correct results of calculation of settlements.

The article discusses the characteristic features of an ecological-geological system (EGS) formed within a mass of macrofragmental soils by the example of the mountain territory of the upper reaches of the Irikchat river basin in Kabardino-Balkaria (the Elbrus region). Its abiotic and biotic components, which are considered as a system, are characterized. It is shown that lithotopes of masses of macrofragmental soils determine the specific features of the abiotic components of the EGS, their microbio-, phyto- and zoocenoses. These features must be taken into account during engineeringecological surveys on masses of macrofragmental soils in mountain areas.