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Hoover Dam’s innovative new bridge bypass
April 12, 2013
Soaring over 271m above the Colorado River, the Hoover Dam Bypass overlooks one of America’s greatest icons and assets. The October 2010 opening of the bypass improves the security of the historic Hoover Dam by removing through traffic from US Route 93. This has reduced its vulnerability to a terrorist attack against an international landmark and guarded the most sustainable source of electricity and the scarce water supply for the entire southwestern United States. By diverting traffic from the hairpin tur
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IRF’s Marrakech regional event focuses on North Africa
April 12, 2013
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’
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IRF chairman and mayor of Riyadh discussed the forthcoming IRF conference with World Highway
April 12, 2013
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
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A pothole damage breakthrough?
April 11, 2013
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
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Roads are an asset that society cannot live without says the European Road Federation’s new long-term safety manifesto
April 11, 2013
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
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A new road maintenance approach developed jointly can improve efficiency
April 11, 2013
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
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Roadmarking requirements can boost highway safety for road users
April 11, 2013
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
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Optimising traffic control ensures efficient use of infrastructure
April 10, 2013
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
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Latest VMS keeps world’s motorists moving safely
April 10, 2013
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
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Free flow tolling technology is booming
April 10, 2013
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
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