Skip to main content

ERIC2016 in Leeds, UK: asset management rethink

From 18th October to 20th October 2016, the European Union Road Federation (ERF), in partnership with the Road Safety markings Association (RSMA) will present the 1st European Road Infrastructure Congress (ERIC2016) in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, UK
November 9, 2016 Read time: 3 mins

From 18th October to 20th October 2016, the European Union Road Federation (ERF), in partnership with the Road Safety markings Association (RSMA) will present the 1st European Road Infrastructure Congress (ERIC2016) in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, UK

The City of Leeds, at the heart of the UK’s Northern Powerhouse Corridor has been chosen as the host for the 1st European Road Infrastructure Congress.

The 5149 Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA), an active member of the ERF for more than 10 years, has invited the 7575 ERF to jointly organise the first European Road Infrastructure Congress, together with the celebration of its 40th anniversary.

There is nowadays an overwhelming consensus that delivery and procurement models for road and its related equipment suffer from several shortcomings. To get true value for money there is a need to explore new concepts and models for the delivery of a safe and sustainable infrastructure that will look, among other things at key concepts.

The general theme of ERIC2016 is ‘Driving the road to European Prosperity’. The focus is on how to improve the products, solutions, services and delivery of Europe’s road system.

Attendees will hear policymakers, road authorities, academics, research laboratories and industry representatives from across Europe and other countries exchange good practices and present new research findings.

ERIC2016 will focus on existing legal frameworks across Europe concerning public procurement for roads and identification of good practices. It will also cover opportunities offered by the new legal and policy tools, such as the revision of the Directive for Public Procurement and voluntary Green Public Procurement Criteria.

And it will investigate how European standards can provide authorities and industry with common methodologies for assessing life-cycle of different road products. It will also investigate how authorities can make use of existing tools to provide industry with the right incentives in order to stimulate innovation. Other topics in focus will be lengthening the maintenance cycle for road projects as well as road user charging schemes and acceptability.

The programme will be structured around three major topics, the delivery of road infrastructure, safe road infrastructure and technology and adaptation.

In addition to public and private infrastructure managers, other actors are also concerned such as the academic sector. Universities will have the opportunity to openly discuss topics of R&D during four sessions specifically dedicated to them, as will industrial and professional organisations, and, of course, the members of RSMA and ERF.

Venue: Leeds, Royal Armouries Museum
Dates: 18th – 20th October 2016


A message from the Director General of the ERF

Most of us use roads every day and we all tend to take them for granted. Considerable investments have been made during the past 50 years in order to provide citizens with modern road infrastructures. However, the aspect of preservation and maintenance of the road asset has not followed the same pace.

Our roads are in danger and many surveys indicate that the backlog of outstanding road maintenance has caused irreversible deterioration of the road network, with related consequences on road safety, impact on the environment and a reduced services for the road user.

Most asset managers across the world agree that the only way to manage our roads so that they meet both needs and aspirations is to carry out regular surveys and undertake regular planned maintenance.

Let us all gather in Leeds, in the United Kingdom, from 18th to 20th October 2016 for the European Road Infrastructure Congress (%$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.eric2016.eu Visit www.eric2016.eu false http://www.eric2016.eu/ false false%>) to share our common concern regarding the management of the road asset, exchange our experiences, knowledge and best practices, but also look together to the future efficient management of our major community asset: roads.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ASEAN Investors’ Brief: A Dynamic hub for Road Programs
    August 22, 2016
    If the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) formed a single economic entity, they would represent the 7th largest economy in the world, with an expectation to be the 4th largest by 2050 on current growth patterns. It is a region with much unrealised potential and favourable demographic trends. It also lies at the heart of several regional trade initiatives that will significantly boost infrastructure investments in the region, such as China’s 'One Belt, One Road' programme
  • Call for papers for 19th ITS World Congress
    April 30, 2012
    The organisers of the 19th ITS World Congress & Exhibition being held from 22-26 October 2012, in Vienna, Austria, have issued a call for papers for the event. The premier ITS event in 2012, coordinated by Ertico - ITS Europe, with the active participation of the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, AustriaTech, ITS Vienna, and the European Commission, aims to have as many female speakers at sessions as possible and is strongly encouraging women in ITS to submit a paper.
  • PPRS event: Road users’ concerns at the heart of the programme
    December 19, 2014
    Europeans are in two minds about whether their road transport has improved in the past five years, according to the latest European Commission’ Eurobarometer survey and report. According to 38% of respondents, road transport quality had gone up, but 40% said it had dropped, while 18% said there had been no change. Whatever the opinion on quality, 60% of respondents to the report’s survey considered congestion to be the most serious issue facing Europe’s roads. The survey highlighted the dominance o
  • Better asset management will reduce costs and improve efficiency
    August 22, 2013
    The FEHRL Infrastructure Research Meeting 2013 (FIRM 2013) raised key issues in transport innovation The key theme for FIRM 13 was advanced and innovative construction and maintenance, highlighting the importance of efficient asset management. Infravation, or infrastructure innovation, was another focus area for the event. Joris Al, FEHRL president said, “We aim to bring interested parties together. We’ve decided to build on existing knowledge rather than starting with front edge technologies and working