Skip to main content

Parsons Brinckerhoff launches highways management seminars

The first of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s regional seminars on how the UK should deliver whole-life asset management of its highways will held in Newcastle today, 23 October. The seminars, called Cracking up or Cracking on, are being run in association with the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT), whose president, . David Gibby, will introduce the event. The cost of maintaining the country’s roads is constantly under pressure from growing demand on the system and increasingly common extr
October 22, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The first of 2693 Parsons Brinckerhoff’s regional seminars on how the UK should deliver whole-life asset management of its highways will held in Newcastle today, 23 October.

The seminars, called Cracking up or Cracking on, are being run in association with the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT), whose president, . David Gibby, will introduce the event.

The cost of maintaining the country’s roads is constantly under pressure from growing demand on the system and increasingly common extreme weather events.

Additionally, the network suffers from a growing maintenance backlog that runs into the tens of billions of pounds and is only made worse by the pressures of austerity.

The seminar will consider how the strongly competing demands on budget and the challenges of annualised funding impact the planning of effective long-term maintenance. How can practices be more efficient, changes made to mind-sets and asset deterioration be prevented, while adding value and resilience without adding costs?

“Over recent years we have seen the UK highways industry increasingly adopt a more systematic approach to the management of this hugely valuable national asset,” said keynote speaker James Elliott, UK head of asset management at Parsons Brinckerhoff.

“We have seen the development of new standards and practices, including the internationally recognised PAS 55 BSI standard, and more recently the development led by the UK’s Institute of Asset Management, of a new international ‘benchmark’ – ISO 55000 - for the recognition of good asset management practice.”

Other keynote speakers will be John Reed, head of technical services at 1284 Durham County Council and Neil Eglintine, contract manager at Newcastle City Council.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • WiM eases bridge structural health worries
    March 22, 2024
    Concerns about ageing road bridges are leading road authorities to consider the case for using weigh-in-motion - WiM - solutions to monitor health of such infrastructure, writes Adam Hill.
  • Reading the road ahead with markings & signs for safety
    January 16, 2020
    Traffic signs and pavement markings have been in use for over 100 years to provide essential guidance and delineation of the travel path. In the ensuing years, the performance of these systems has been greatly expanded with the introduction of retroreflective optics to increase visibility at night and in wet night-time conditions.
  • Shell’s John Read explains “adaptable bitumen” developments
    December 15, 2016
    Shell’s highly innovative bitumen and asphalt solutions are helping create future-ready urban road networks around the world to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. Shell’s general manager of bitumen technology, Professor John Read, takes a look at some of the company’s game-changing ideas. The next 30 or so years will see a significant transformation in the way we live. Whereas almost 75% of the world’s population lived in rural locations in 1950, around 75% will live in cities by 2050. The global popu
  • Eurobitume Congress: Prague promises
    June 22, 2016
    Held every four years, the Eurasphalt and Eurobitume congresses have a reputation for revealing developments that will shape the future of bitumen use on Europe’s roads. This year’s event in Prague promises to uphold that reputation. By Kristina Smith The list of locations for the Eurobitume and Eurasphalt (E&E) Congresses reads like a traveller’s dream itinerary: Strasbourg, Barcelona, Vienna, Copenhagen, Istanbul. Now the beautiful city of Prague has been added to the list. Between 1-3 June, presenter