Reconstruction Project of the AGAI Kyviškės Runway Awarded the Gold Medal

December 21, 2016
A project commissioned by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) was awarded a gold medal on the Lithuanian Product of the Year 2016 Awards. The goal of the project was a major reconstruction of Kyviškės aerodrome's runway pavement at the Flight Training Unit of Antanas Gustaitis Aviation Institute (AGAI). The reconstruction was carried out by AB Panevėžio keliai.
 
One of the biggest road and railway design and construction companies in the Baltic States – AB Panevėžio keliai – was acknowledged for unconventional, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly solution. During the implementation of the project, the Lithuanian capital company applied Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodology and automated equipment management systems.
 
"In pilot training, it is very important to have an infrastructure which corresponds to the requirements stipulated in the international civil aviation safety legislation. The reconstructed runway significantly improved the quality of students' flight training and also it contributes to more efficient use of the aircraft fleet. During the period of May-August flight training is exceptionally intensive on this runway. Approximately 2-3 hundred flight arrivals and departures are carried out every day. From now on students and flight instructors can be more confident using the new and safe runway," says Director of VGTU AGAI institute Jonas Vytautas Jusionis.
 
The renovated Kyviškės runway will ensure the high quality of practical pilot training. AGAI is the only higher education aviation school in Lithuania that educates and trains specialists in four main areas of aviation: aviation mechanics, avionics, aircraft pilots and flight control. In terms of competences that are developed here, it is the leading school for aeronautics studies in the region.
 
For the first time in the history of country's aviation the reconstruction works on Kyviškės runway were carried out according to the Yellow Book requirements published by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC). These requirements cover contracts when the design and execution of building or engineering works is carried out by contractors themselves. This enabled the use of unconventional modern solutions in the project, and it was implemented in much shorter time: the scheduled 4-month works were carried out in just over 2 months. During this period the runway's base was reinforced, required slopes were formed, surface of asphalt concrete was changed, safety zones renewed, and pavement was marked.
 
Until the reconstruction, the asphalt cement surface pavement of Kyviškės aerodrome's runway, which is 540 m long and 23 m wide, was used for more than 35 years. It did not comply with the aviation safety requirements anymore. The surface was damaged, deformed, with some 7-9 cm wide gaps.
 
The main goal of this national competition – "The Lithuanian Product of the Year 2016" – is to increase the competitiveness of Lithuanian products, to encourage the choice of Lithuanian products and develop Lithuanian businesses. The awards are given to the most progressive projects and the ability to compete with the best international examples, also for the use of innovations, environmentally-friendly production, solutions to ecological and environmental problems, functionality and significance to society, efficiency and many other criteria.  

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VILNIUS TECH Library invites you to follow the published new dissertations. The dissertation „Twin transition impact assessment model for agricultural performance in the context of sustainability“ prepared at VILNIUS TECH by Kristina Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė. The dissertation was prepared in 2020–2026. Scientific consultant – Dr Rasa Melnikienė. The dissertation was defended at the public meeting of the Dissertation Defence Council of the Scientific Field of Economics in the Aula Doctoralis Meeting Hall of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University at 10 a. m. on 22 September 2026. The twin transition in agriculture, combining the digital and green transitions, is one of the key directions of the European Union’s strategy for developing a more sustainable, resilient, and competitive agricultural sector. This dissertation addresses the problem of how to assess the impact of digital and green transitions on agricultural performance in the context of sustainability. The dissertation aims to develop and empirically substantiate the Twin Transition Impact Assessment Model. The model integrates three assessment levels: farm-level adoption and economic performance; the bioeconomy and value-chain level; and the national and regional context level. Structural asymmetries and enabling mechanisms are included as cross-cutting components. A mixed-methods research design was applied, combining scientific literature analysis, conceptual synthesis, case-study analysis, structured survey analysis, comparative assessment, correlation and regression analysis, sensitivity analysis, semi-structured interviews, document review, and the synthesis of empirical findings. The empirical basis consists of five interconnected studies covering small-farm digitalisation, digital technology adoption in sustainable agriculture and the bioeconomy, the twin transition in Lithuania and Romania, food supply-chain digitalisation, and structural asymmetries in Lithuania’s bioeconomy transition. The empirical results show that the twin transition improves agricultural performance when digital and green solutions are integrated across the farm, value chain, and regional and national levels. Digitalisation supports labour efficiency, planning, customer relations, investment decisions, loss reduction, traceability, product quality, and supply-chain visibility, while also contributing to resource efficiency, renewable energy use, water-use efficiency, emissions reduction, carbon sequestration, and climate resilience. The empirical evidence indicates that the effects of digital and green transitions depend on infrastructure, investment capacity, policy support, digital skills and institutional conditions. The results also show structural differences in transition outcomes: higher investment intensity does not automatically produce stronger economic results, and digital adoption may occur separately from ecological production orientation. On this basis, the dissertation concludes that digital and green transitions can strengthen agricultural performance and sustainability when they are integrated, context-specific and supported by enabling mechanisms. The proposed model provides a scientific and practical framework for assessing agricultural performance under the twin transition across farm-level, bioeconomy and agri-food value-chain, regional-national and structural dimensions. Doctoral dissertation readers can search via VILNIUS TECH Virtual Library.
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