Features

Christophe Nicodème, ERF's Director General, explores a missing link in the road safety chain Road works are an essential part of the work of public administrations and toll operators; aimed at preserving a safe road infrastructure for users, while minimising the disruption caused as a result of unavoidable traffic interventions. Given the essential role of road works, one would assume that well-defined regulations exist at national and European level to determine the best way of conducting them. Yet

Maryvonne Plessis-Fraissard highlights that the key importance of rural roads in the context of global development is only now being fully recognised, is not receiving enough attention and is facing vital new challenges Rural roads have only relatively recently received attention in development research. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or World Bank, moved away from the World War II reconstruction mandate during the early 1960s to start, and address, the "Third World" developme

The future financing of the European road network has again become a hot topic in Brussels On 15 October, 2010 in the Belgian capital, the Council of Transport Ministers hammered out a political compromise on the revision of the Eurovignette Directive that paves the way for the imposition of additional charges on road transport as a means of internalising externalities. Whether the imposition of these additional costs is justified or not remains the subject of protracted debate.

IRF launches CHANGER, a groundbreaking calculator of greenhouse gas emissions from road construction. Our world is changing, our climate is changing. Industry too is changing to meet the new social, environmental and economic challenges of our times. Already, the road sector has taken a decisive lead in this respect by transforming its practices and adopting new, more eco-friendly techniques and technologies. CHANGER is the latest flagship project in this evolution: the sign of an indust

Professor Martin Snaith, O.B.E., introduces an annual gathering that has grown over the years to become perhaps the world's foremost professional development forum promoting advances in sustainable roads worldwide. Over more than 15 years the Senior Road Executives Programme (SRE), organised by the internationally renowned Highways Group of the University of Birmingham, UK, in association with IRF, has established a worldwide reputation for providing top-quality professional development for executives worki

At its annual plenary meeting held on 25 May 2010, during the 16th IRF World Meeting in Lisbon, the European Road Federation (ERF) elected a new President in the person of Jacobo Díaz Pineda. Mr. Díaz Pineda has been the Director General of the Spanish Road Association (AEC) since September 2006, and is also President of the Ibero-American Road Institute (IVIA). We took advantage of his presence in Lisbon to ask him a few questions about his new responsibilities:

In this second of a two-part article, Jack Opiola, demonstrates that the imposition of a government provided GPS mandate to levy mileage tax could be eliminated by offering motorists transparent choices regarding their manner of compliance. The key to a mileage tax system without a GPS mandate is through offering motorists choices. Most motorists are consumers who are comfortable with selecting products and services from among options available in the marketplace. A mileage tax can be built upon this reali

The forthcoming Tier 4 emissions legislation represents a great leap forward in technology, Mike Woof reports A high-profile focus on sustainability and reduced environmental impact is sweeping the construction sector in the European Union (EU) and the US. The EU and the US will implement regulations for the lowest emission off-road machines in history, with Canada and Japan expected to release similar regulatory programmes this year. The legislation being introduced will transform the construction indu

When built it was determined that a vital US road/rail bridge would always be widened. Work on that huge project is going to plan as Patrick Smith reports One of the biggest bridge widening projects in the world is being carried out under an ambitious development programme. At US$1.2 billion, the seven-year scheme to widen the Huey P. Long Bridge in the US state of Louisiana is also the largest of 16 projects planned under the state's TIMED (Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development)

Aximum is a comparatively new organisation, but it incorporates many old-established companies in the route safety business. As Alan Peterson discovered, it is 'ready to pick up speed' A few weeks ago the French-based Aximum Group added a fourth international subsidiary to its portfolio of businesses at the end of what has been a busy period for the fledgling company. Al Habtoor Aximum is a joint venture with the leading contractor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and with the backing of this highly rega

ECED's first Dealers' Conference in April during Intermat resulted in "a tremendous success and solid future outlook for the association" The president of the European Confederation of Equipment Distributors (ECED), Dr. José Gameiro, said the gravity of the current crisis is "the worst in the past 50 years, with a devastating effect on equipment distribution for public works and civil construction." Describing the foreseeable consequences for the equipment sector, he estimated that "up to 20-30% of Euro

A novel approach to utilities installation will lengthen the life of Helsinki's streets, reports Mike Woof A major utilities project in Finnish capital Helsinki will offer huge benefits for the city's streets and traffic flow rates in years to come. A new tunnel system is being excavated under Helsinki for the power company Helsingin Energia, although this will be co-owned by the city. Called the Common Utility Tunnel (Meilahti-Pasilak-Käpylä LU2), the excavations form an extensive network spreading out un

The use of high-pressure water jets to remove old concrete on structures is becoming increasingly popular Hydrodemolition of concrete structures by robotic equipment is becoming an increasingly used method for removing deteriorated concrete with high-pressure water techniques. It offers the selective removal of deteriorated concrete, while retaining sound concrete below the intended level of removal, a process that will not damage rebar or cause micro-cracks in the concrete, as will mechanical methods s

Several aspects factor into choosing the proper concrete dowel drill - Randy Stevens. The concrete paving industry has seen significant changes to dowel drilling equipment over the years. Many years ago only hand-held models existed and when the first hydraulic drills were launched over 30 years ago, these increased production and reduced labour needs. Since that time pneumatic drills, have come to market and these are driven by air compressors, which are common on many worksites while the units also have l