Features

A series of dynamic meetings in Marrakech signal the forward direction of IRF Geneva as it gears up for a bright new era as a global voice of the road sector. As these pages go to press, IRF Geneva is just emerging from a very rewarding regional conference focusing on North Africa and the Mediterranean that took place from 19-20 March, 2013. The success of this high-level gathering, organised in association with the Moroccan Road Association and Moroccan Motorways (Autoroutes du Maroc), reflects IRF Geneva’

Every four years, for the last 60 years, the International Road Federation (IRF) has brought transportation officials and experts from around the world together in one place for the IRF World Meeting & Exhibition. This is the premiere global event for transportation professionals. The 17th IRF World Meeting & Exhibition is set to happen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 9–13, 2013, and features a compelling executive and interactive session programme and a peer-reviewed technical and scientific session prog

Academic research by two universities in the same UK city shows that patch repairs on potholes could be far more durable if a few simple techniques were consistently used. Guy Woodford reports. Repairing pothole damage to highways and vehicles across Europe costs responsible authorities and individual motorists hundreds of millions of euros each year. Yet it has cost just €20,204 to make the potentially crucial first step in identifying a method of keeping highways across the continent and beyond pothole fr

Roads are an asset that society cannot live without argues a new manifesto out this month from the European Road Federation, as the lobby group launches a new policy for long-term, effective management of a safe and efficient European road network. Roads represent an incomparable link in the global chain of transport and mobility says the European Road Federation (ERF). The condition of the roads in Europe might look satisfactory at first glance, but what could appear acceptable on the surface can be hiding

Innovative road maintenance solutions in Austria. A sophisticated system for managing maintenance tasks has been developed in Austria to meet the specific needs of a highway concession package. Bonaventura Straßenerhaltungs-GmbH is a 100%-owned business of the French company Egis Road Operation S.A., and was founded to provide the road maintenance services of the first Austrian PPP infrastructure project "Ypsilon"(PPP-Ostregion, Paket 1) granted by ASFINAG. The concessionaire won a 30-year contract in 2006

Road markings are an essential component of a modern infrastructure and an essential contributor to driver comfort and road safety. The COST 331 study, which ran from 1996 to 1999, mainly focused on dry night conditions and indicated that the increased luminance of road markings, results in a better delineation of the road and offers more reaction time for drivers. On average a slight increase in speed was noted, but the increased visibility was mainly converted into more reaction time. IMPROVER, which ran

Central and local governments are facing many challenges, not least a shortage of funds due to budget restraints in the US and Europe in particular. In other markets, ensuring efficient traffic flow is the priority, with monitoring of network status being a key tool. New technology for traffic monitoring plays a crucial role and the sector is keen to introduce new and more efficient systems. The Transport Research laboratory (TRL) has long been a pioneer of traffic control technologies and its latest MAAPc

VMS for what is thought to be the longest road tunnel in the Middle East, and the installation of the latest VMS technology in Canada’s oldest national park to help motorists travelling through it are among the projects discussed by Guy Woodford. A large volume of VMS from Italian firm Solari has been installed in the new 4.2km-long Zayed Street Tunnel in Abu Dhabi – thought to be the longest in the Middle East. The Solari VMS supply consisted of 204 lane control signs, with Red, Yellow and Green LED pre-de

Jon Masters reports on the latest moves in the free-flow tolling segment. Free-flow tolling of roads and discrete infrastructure, such as bridges and tunnels, is an area of transportation that appears to be booming. Tolling in general is on the up, often still as a means for funding road projects where public sector budgets can no longer cover the necessary costs, but not exclusively so. Several high profile examples of road user charging for ‘demand management’ – the reduction of congestion as part of a wi

Volvo Construction Equipment president Pat Olney has stressed the importance of the bauma show to the industry giant ahead of the 2013 event. Speaking during the recent inauguration of Volvo CE’s new Americas HQ in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, he said: “Bauma is a major show in Europe and also attracts international visitors.

This month we look at how pavement testing technology is responding to extremes of temperature, showcase concrete testing in Doha and look at how water drops could help identify delaminated bridge decks - Kristina Smith reports One of the biggest challenges that pavement engineers face is how to design for extremes of temperature. Designing for cold weather can result in problems at higher temperatures – and vice versa. In Scandinavia, generally a cold climate, they are facing this problem. In the summer,

With the European economy in crisis and continuing shifts in the world order, manufacturers must re-think their business strategies if they are to succeed. Seasoned survivor Pasquale di Iorio, CEO of construction testing equipment specialist CONTROLS Group shares his plans for the future - Kristina Smith met him in Italy Pasquale Di Iorio has been at the helm of construction testing equipment manufacturer CONTROLS Group since 1996. First impressions suggest that Di Iorio is a strong leader: confidently dete

Various business moves are changing the face of the machine control sector - Mike Woof reports An array of developments, both business moves and new technologies, are changing the focus for the machine control segment of the construction equipment sector. For a long time three firms, Leica Geosystems, Trimble and Topcon, have dominated this segment. The three are retaining their strong positions in the market but are seeing additional competition from Hemisphere and MOBA. Arguably the biggest news is that T

In 2012 Benninghoven were commissioned by Kostmann, an Austria-based consortium of companies involved in the production and refinement of raw materials, to build an asphalt mixing plant that included a stone tower silo system. The plant - TBA-3000-U –was to be sited at Weitendorf, a location offering good access to the motorway, the Styria regional capital, Graz, and the Austria-Slovenia border. However, the close proximity of agricultural land and private residential areas called for an adherence to strict

A leading asphalt plant manufacturer is playing a key role in the upgrade of a major European airport, while another is said to have created one of the most modern plants in Europe. Meanwhile, a host of new plants and plant concepts have been, or are about to be, unveiled. Guy Woodford reports Intrame says its ultra-mobile UM-280 asphalt plant has played a key role in the resurfacing of the runway and taxiways at Gatwick Airport in southern England – the busiest single runway airport in the world. Around 35