New books

Tribute to memory and respect to the builders of Dubna

The book "How Dubna was Built" by Alexey Beklemishchev has been published in the JINR Publishing Department. The author is a civil engineer, organizer of construction production, general director of OJSC Construction Company Dubna, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, veteran of nuclear energy and industry. In his greeting to readers, he writes:

"I, the author of this historical essay, have made an attempt to pay tribute to the memory and respect of the builders that created our beloved city of Dubna.

The history of the foundation of the city's first construction organization and of all the departments that were part of a single construction complex is set out in chronological order in the book. The results of the activities of builders for the period from 1946 to 2020 are reflected in the book. Biographical information is provided about the heads of construction organizations, outstanding engineers and technicians, craftsmen and construction supervisors, crew chiefs and workers - labor veterans. Two periods of activity of the city's construction organizations are reflected in the essay: the period of foundation and rapid construction from 1946 to 1991 and the period of perestroika, privatization that entailed the destruction of the unified construction complex of the city of Dubna as a result of the aggressive introduction of market economic methods.

The beginning of a new historical stage in the development of the city can be considered 18 January, 2006, when the Government of Russia and Head of the city signed an agreement on the development of a Special Economic Zone in Dubna.

I would like to believe that the completion of the construction of enterprises in the Dubna SEZ will bring additional tax revenue to the city budget and significantly improve the quality of life of citizens. God grant that this time comes quickly."

The historical essay, covering the many years of creative activity of the Construction and Installation Department No.5 of the First Construction and Installation Trust of the Ministry of Medium Engineering, reflected the most important events in the history of Dubna, a city established by the hands and talents of its architects. One of the chapters of the book is titled: "Nature conservation is a tradition laid down by the pioneers." Here are some facts stated by the author:

"During the construction of the kindergarten "Mishutka", centuries-old pine trees were preserved that were subject to cutting down when landing the building in accordance with the geodetic reference. However, the directorate decided to expand and move the building, fitting it between the existing trees.

During the construction of the surgical building of the Medical Unit №9, the linden alley along Blokhintseva Street was preserved. The linden trees were replanted during the construction period and after construction was completed, they were returned to their old place. The alley of linden trees still delights the citizens of Dubna today.

An interesting incident occurred during the development of the territory of blocks No.23 and 24 of the Chernaya Rechka district. Today, few people know that this area was swampy. Only after the construction of a collector made of reinforced concrete pipes the bed of the Chernaya Rechka was transferred into it. To discharge water into the Volga River, two operating modes were provided: gravity flow - during the period of low water levels in the Volga and through a pumping station - during the period of high low water levels. The swampiness of the area was eliminated. Raising the ground level to the design levels, that is the vertical layout required sand bedding up to 3 meters high in volumes of many tens of thousands of cubic meters. The bedding work was carried out year-round using a manual technique, mainly in winter. Once, in December 1984, a call came from the executive committee of the City Council with the following content. Residents of new houses in the Chernaya Rechka district discovered huts for the wintering of beavers under the snow on the site to be filled under the ChUM store. In winter, it was not possible to catch beavers and move them to a new place of residence. It was decided not to fill up the area with wintering beavers until spring. This issue was agreed upon with the customer - OCR JINR. In spring, the beavers were caught by the workers of the hunting reserve "Moscow Sea" and transferred to clean water.

Many centuries-old trees, such as pines, lindens, oaks were preserved during the construction of the dispensary buildings in the village of Ratmino and the laying of utilities to it.

Linear engineering and technological personnel paid increased attention to the preservation of trees during the construction of the basic facilities and buildings of JINR. The cutting down of each tree was discussed with the directorate of the laboratory. To preserve the trees, excavation work near them was carried out manually. The staff members of the Institute were often sent for this work. The laboratory structures fit organically into the forest thanks to the joint work of builders and chief engineers: LHE - L.G.Makarov, FLNR - I.V.Kolesov, FLNP - V.D.Ananyev, Deputy Director of LHTA S.A.Shchelev.

A lot of work was carried out for improvement and greening of the city. During the tenth five-year plan only, more than 28 thousand m² of sidewalks, 41 thousand m² of roads were built in the city, 10.2 thousand trees were planted and 223 thousand m² of lawns and flower beds were arranged. More than 384 thousand m² of sidewalks and roads were repaired.

The traditions of the pioneers are still supported by designers, city administration and ordinary citizens that are in love with their city."