He taught to build not only cheaply, capital, but also beautifully
Authors: Kalinichenko Alexander L. 
Published: April 2024

Introduction. In construction science, the name of Professor Boris Grigoryevich Skramtaev is widely known to the engineering community of the country and far beyond its borders. He actively participated in the formation and development of the Russian scientific school of concrete and reinforced concrete. The construction industry actively implemented the innovation of researcher Skramtaev and his colleagues, using precast concrete proposed by scientists on large-scale construction sites, introducing new types of cements developed by them for the construction of residential and industrial facilities.

In Boris Grigoryevich's informative biography, in addition to research on hydraulic engineering, coarse-porous and high-strength concretes, participation in the development of inorganic binders is vividly reflected. He devoted a lot of time and effort to leading research teams, the results of which are impressive by today's standards. Thus, during the difficult for the country war period, scientists under the leadership of Professor Boris Grigoryevich Skramtaev contributed to the full and timely provision of domestic industry with building materials, primarily high-quality concrete and reinforced concrete, even in extremely difficult periods for the construction industry during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war restoration of the national economy.

The aim of this article is to conduct an author's analysis of the fruitful scientific activity of Professor B.G. Skramtaev, to confirm his talent as a leader of research teams. To trace the biography of the outstanding Russian scientist Boris Grigoryevich Skramtaev, the founder of the Russian school of reinforced concrete, who made a great contribution to the creation of modern building materials, various types of concrete, which were actively used in the construction industry.

Results. The article examines and analyzes the newly discovered biographical data about Professor B.G. Skramtaev, analyzes the influence of the environment in which the scientist's worldview was formed, the motives of his active and fruitful activity in the field of concrete science. For the first time, the responses of representatives of the scientific community and heads of interested ministries of the country about B.G. Skramtaev's popular textbook "Building Materials", which has undergone five reprints, has become a reference book for several generations of students and engineers.

Conclusions. The source base of the research has been expanded, archival documents and materials that were previously unknown or little known to the scientific community have been introduced into scientific circulation. Several materials have been found confirming the heuristic outstanding abilities of researcher B.G. Skramtaev in the field of concrete science.

The role and place of scientific activity of Professor B.G. Skramtaev as a theorist on the creation of new promising concretes and mixtures for the construction industry are determined.

In the article, the scientist B.G. Skramtaev is shown as a versatile and in-depth researcher, the author of numerous textbooks and monographs, relevant articles on the topics he studies. For example, his 1952 textbook "Building Materials" reflects the priority of Russian science and technology more fully than previous editions. It presents the achievements of Soviet construction materials technology and changes in outdated terminology on building materials. The fifth edition provides new data on materials and reinforced concrete parts for prefabricated construction, takes into account the basic principles of the draft Schedule, replenishes the section "Achievements of domestic science and practice", reflects the works successfully implemented in practice in 1950–1952, including personal works of the authors, especially in the field of new cements, concrete technology and building solutions.

The conclusions obtained as a result of the analysis of the material contribute to the study of the originality of the versatile personality of B.G. Skramtaev, his phenomenon in scientific thought in the field of concrete science and building materials in the period of the 1930s–1960s.