Department of Overland Communication Ways, Foundation and Cadastral Survey

The academic program “Roads and Bridges” was set up in 1964 within the Civil Engineering Faculty of Timişoara. It later extended and turned into the “Railways, Roads and Bridges” program and, as a result, the Chair for Roads and Foundations came into being in 1968, to coordinate the respective program. The Cadastral Survey academic program emerged in 1991, and later became the “Terrestrial Measurements and Cadastre” program. The former Chair turned into the Department for Geotechnical Engineering and Overland Communication Ways in 1996 and coordinated the academic programs of “Railways, Roads and Bridges” and “Terrestrial Measurements and Cadastre”. Starting from the year 2006, it has been bearing the name Department of Overland Communication Ways, Foundations and Cadastral Survey.

Since its establishment and until 1985, the head of the Chair of Roads and Foundations was its founder, Professor Marin PĂUNESCU, and between 1985 and 1990, the head of the Chair was Professor Laurenţiu NICOARĂ. Between 1990 and 2004, the office was chaired by Professor Virgil HAIDA. Between 2004 and 2012, Professor Ion COSTESCU acted as Head of the department. Starting with 2012, the office has been held by Professor Florin BELC.

Except for the strictly specialized disciplines (roads, highways, railways, topography, cadastral survey, and so on), addressing exclusively students specialized in both disciplines coordinated by the Department, currently there are other technical disciplines within the Department (geological engineering, soil mechanics, foundations, descriptive geometry, assisted graphics and technical drawing) addressing students in all academic programs in the field of Civil Engineering from the Civil Engineering Faculty.

The teaching activity within the Department of Overland Communication Ways, Foundations and Cadastral Survey is developed by academics divided into three discipline groups:

The team for geotechnics and foundation studies (including the staff dealing with descriptive geometry and drawing);
The team for Terrestrial Measurements and Cadastre;
The team for Roads and Railways.

The Department of Overland Communication Ways, Foundations and Cadastral Survey offers three master programs, namely:

Transport Infrastructures;
Foundation Systems for Special Constructions – the program can be activated on demand;
Cadastre and Evaluation of Immovables.

The department also offers specialization through doctoral programs in the fields of Civil Engineering, and Geodesic Engineering, programssupervised by the following professors:

Professor Ion COSTESCU, Eng., Ph.D. – Field of Civil Engineering (Communication Ways, Bridges and Tunnels);
Professor Marin MARIN, Eng., Ph.D. – Field of Civil Engineering (soil Mechanics and Foundations);
Professor Adrian CIUTINA, Eng., Ph.D. – Field of Civil Engineering;
Professor Carmen GRECEA, Eng., Ph.D. – Field of Geodesic Engineering;
Professor Sorin HERBAN, Eng., Ph.D. – Field of Geodesic Engineering.

Besides the academic activity with students and the doctoral program, the CCTFC Department performs a very significant research, design and expertise activity in the fields of geotechnical engineering, land communication ways and survey works.

The department hosts the Research Centre “Infrastructures for Constructions and Transportation” – ICT. The centre was set up in 2001 within the Civil Engineering Faculty, the University Politehnica Timisoara, and works on three directions:

Soil Mechanics and Foundation Systems for Constructions;
Roads and Railways;
Terrestrial Measurements and Cadastre.

The main research directions of the ICT research centre are as follows:

Use of the vibration technique in foundation problems;
Determination of the impact of dynamic loadings on foundations;
Improvement of weak foundation soils by punching;
Realization of efficient foundation systems in seismic areas for different constructions;
Designing efficient road pavements;
Checking up technical standards and regulations;
Research concerning difficult foundation soils;
Special foundations for buildings placed in seismic areas;
Research concerning materials and composite materials for roads;
Execution technologies for foundation works based on vibration techniques and anchoring;
Modern construction technologies in the field of roads and railways;
Recycling methods for road pavements.

Material resources of the department

First degree Laboratory for Geotechnics and Overland Communication Ways

The Laboratory for Geotechnics and Overland Communication Ways was set up within the Faculty of Civil Engineering Timișoara, with the headquarters in Timișoara, 300224, str. Ioan Curea nr. 1A, tel. 0256/403961, fax 0256/403960.

The laboratory was authorized by the Government Inspectorate in Constructions as I^st degree laboratory in 2001 and reauthorized in 2006, 2010, 2014 (authorization no. 2872/2014 with renewal in 2018), to carry on laboratory and field activities for the following profiles:

No.	Profile	Symbol
1	Geotechnics and foundation soil	G.T.F.
2	Nondestructive tests of the operation behavior of constructions	V.N.C.E.C
3	Natural aggregates for railway and road works	A.N.C.F.D
4	Materials for roads	M.D
5	Roads	D
6	Railway infrastructure	C.F.

The Laboratory for Geotechnics and Overland Communication Ways offers the possibility to carry on basic and applied research activities, technical expert analyses, technical assistance and consultancy, etc., performed by trained specialists in the following fields:

research and examination of the quality of construction materials (natural aggregates and stones, mineral binders, bituminous binders, pozzolanic binders, asphalt mixtures, cement concretes, stabilized natural aggregates, etc.);
studies and research concerning the realization of high quality asphalt mixtures and cement concretes for road works (use of additives and/or modifiers and new materials, fiber stabilized asphalt mixtures, designing dosages to obtain well determined performances, etc.);
checking the operation behavior of constructions through laboratory and field testing, respectively through analyzing the quality of the materials used in their composition;
examination of the foundation ground, including determination of optimum solutions to improve its quality;
diagnosis, strengthening and rehabilitation of all types of constructions.

The activity of the laboratory is coordinated by the head of laboratory (Lecturer Paul MARC, Ph.D.) and a deputy (Lecturer Monica MIREA, Ph.D.). The laboratory work is carried out by 7 chiefs of profile authorized by the Government Inspection for Constructions for the different profiles shown in the table above, and the research activity is carried on by 13 academics and 4 laboratory assistants and workers.

The activity in the laboratory is entirely regulated by the Quality Manual drawn up according to SR EN ISO/CEI 17025-2005 correlated with the requirements of SR EN ISO 9001-2008. Its structure presents clearly all the activities which can be performed in the laboratory, strictly observing the technical standards in force.

The laboratory works together with the Laboratory for Roads and Bridges belonging to the Regional Direction for Roads and Bridges Timisoara, which is shared by the two centers in their research and production activity as well as in the academic activity with students from the specialization of railways, roads and bridges.

The department also owns a mechanic workshop which ensures the maintenance and repair of laboratory and field equipment belonging to the department.