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

  • Conference success in Lisbon
    February 14, 2012
    The International Road Federation's (IRF) conference in Portuguese capital Lisbon was a major success, attracting 1,500 industry professionals from all over the world
  • Tunnel inspections reveal safety compliance need
    April 10, 2012
    Results show the state of Europe's tunnel infrastructure at its 'most sublime and most depressing quality' as Patrick Smith reports
  • IRF & CHTS 2015 China Congress and Annual Meeting
    July 7, 2015
    The International Road Federation (IRF Geneva), the Transport Planning and Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport of China (TPRI), and the China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) will be hosting a major conference in the beautiful city of Chongqing, China on 20th-22nd September 2015. The call for abstracts is now open. Chongqing was separated from Sichuan province and made into a municipality in its own right in March 1997 in order to accelerate its development. Since its elevation to nati
  • Statistics important to assessment of transport projects
    April 13, 2012
    IRF Geneva's statistics guru, Cristian Gonzalez, explores the growing importance of data in public and private assessments of transport projects IRF's work on statistics is rarely in the limelight. It is, however, an essential component of the federation's key advocacy role on behalf of its members. Statistics are, indeed, a vital function of authoritative lobbying and knowledge sharing on the range of issues impacting our sector - from highlighting the persuasive economic business cases for investment in