15. Расскажите о своей специальности (road-making machinery engineering). Part V

V.1. The highway engineering faculty

1. Прочитайте и выучите.

subgrade– земляное полотно, основание дорог

subbase– нижний слой покрытия

pavement– покрытие

crushedstone– щебень

artificial– искусственный, готовый

overpass– переход, путепровод

retainingwall– подпорная стена

portland cement – портландцемент

cement concrete – цементобетон

limestone – известняк

cinder – зола

patching –ямочный ремонт

rut– борозда

corrugation– рифление, волнообразование

blading– обработка (выглаживание) дороги грейдером

mowing– скашивание (травы)

right-of-way– полоса отвода дороги, полоса отчуждения

deflection– прогиб

culvert– водопропускная труба

Составьте 3 предложения с новыми словами.

2. Какой звук слышится в конце каждого слова? Распределите слова в три столбика.

[n]	[ŋ]	[ŋk]

Thing, sink, plan, cleaning, thank, classification, think, corrugation, blading, sin, blank, thin, sing, following, operation, construction, tank, foundation, frank, building, link, mowing, common, interesting, tunneling, crank, keeping, deflection, clean.

3. Прочитайте и переведите текст. The highway engineering faculty

The students of this faculty are trained in the following qualifications: Operation and Maintenance of Automobile Roads and Air Fields, Construction of Bridges and Tunnels, Highway Economy and Management and Environmental Engineering.

The students of the first qualification study the classification of roads and the structure of a highway. Any highway engineer knows the following classification of roads: state, federal, regional, country and city roads and streets.

The road design consists of the subgrade, subbase and pavement. Subgrade is the foundation of the road. Subbase is the middle layer of the road, it’s made of gravel, crushed stone or different mixtures. Between subgrade and subbase there is drainage layer, which is usually made of sand. The upper layer of the road is pavement, made of asphaltconcrete or cement-concrete.

Besides, the students of the faculty are acquainted with such artificial structures as bridges, culverts, viaducts, overpasses, tunnels, retaining walls which also belong to a highway. To train competent engineers a number of specialized subjects are included in the curriculum of the faculty. Such subjects include: Building Materials, Hydraulics and Hydrology, Geology, Geodesy, Soil Mechanics, Bases and Foundations of Transport Structures and Underground Communications.

Since the purpose of roads and bridges is to convey traffic, the highway and bridge engineers have common tasks. It is the matter of primary concern for bridge and tunnel engineers to calculate the loads properly. That’s why they should pay great attention to such subjects as Theoretical Mechanics and The Strength of Materials.

The students of the second qualification study various types of bridges. The history of tunneling is also very interesting aspect of teaching. The graduates with this qualification work at designing bridges, tunnels, air fields and different artificial structures, and also at the construction of all mentioned facilities.

The matter of primary concern for a road-building engineer is also knowing the properties of road-building materials. The materials used in road construction are: portland cement concrete, bituminous materials and mixtures, asphalt-beton, sand, gravel, limestone, crushed stone and cinder.

All this can be accomplished with economical factors. The single objective of economic analysis is to determine whether it is profitable to make the improvement or purchase, or which alternative is the more economical. There are two main elements of cost in highway economy: 1) the annual cost of the highway facility, and 2) the annual cost of operating motor vehicle. The sum of these two cost elements is the highway transportation cost. The goal of design and operation of the highways is to achieve a minimum sum of these two cost elements.

The road-building engineers deal not only with the building of roads but also with their maintenance and repair. Highway maintenance is the preserving and keeping of each roadway, structure and facility as nearly as possible in its original condition. The result of adequate highway maintenance is smooth, safe, and efficient roadways, clear waterways, and clean attractive right-of-way.