A seminar on how effective strategies for road maintenance will boost working life

One of the major components of public infrastructure is the transportation group. This group mainly includes the road network, airports, railroads, and ports.
February 27, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

Carlos M. Chang-Albitres talks about affordable, safer, and environmentally friendly pavement preservation practices

One of the major components of public infrastructure is the transportation group. This group mainly includes the road network, airports, railroads, and ports. The road network is perhaps the most important component of this group for providing ground links between businesses, industries, and consumers. Because of these links, there is a strong relationship between funds allocated in road infrastructure and economic growth.

The maintenance and rehabilitation of road infrastructure demands a great investment of time and money. The deterioration of pavement condition over time due to environmental factors and increasing traffic loads combined with the limitation of funds available for maintenance and rehabilitation creates a complex challenge.

A multidisciplinary coordinated effort is needed for addressing this challenge. This involves the use of new materials and innovative pavement preservation techniques. This involves the use of new materials and innovative pavement preservation techniques.

Without any doubt, the availability of new materials, new pavement preservation techniques, and alternative funding strategies for a better return on investments will be reflected on network condition and future funding needs.

A long-term vision to foster a sustainable and affordable programme to preserve road infrastructure starts with setting goals and delimiting expectations for building long-term lasting pavements. This involves a comprehensive understanding of the complex factors that influence pavement performance. Pavement performance includes consideration of functional performance, structural performance, and safety. In addition to this, the concept of green roads for better living should be encouraged by governmental policies to ensure high quality of life for all while protecting our natural system. Warm asphalt mixes, rubberised asphalt pavements, new environmentally friendly bitumen products for slurry seals, microsurfaces, and cape seals are just some examples of the evolution of new materials and technologies for pavement preservation.

As advocates of a proactive vision for affordable, safer, and environmentally friendly pavements, the International Road Federation (2462 IRF) is supporting an international task force to coordinate efforts and foster collaboration among experts.
The first meeting of this nature will be held in Orlando, Florida from 4-7 August, 2009.


Preserving our Highway Infrastructure Assets

Affordable, Safer, and Environmentally Friendly Pavement Preservation Practices

August 4-7, 2009 Orlando, Florida

IRF's newly developed international seminar explores the latest best practices in pavement preservation. The seminar's approach is truly global, due to its cast of international speakers, featuring experts from:

• The 2332 World Bank Group

• U.S. FHWA

• Nippo Corporation (Japan)

• 763 Shell Sulphur Solutions (USA)

• 2993 CECA ARKEMA (France)

• 778 Troxler Electronic Laboratories (USA)

• And Many More


























Asphalt milling, paving & compaction Materials

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Re-inventing Africa’s Transport Model - The 2nd IRF Africa Regional Congress
    September 13, 2017
    Lack of effective coordination among Africa’s transportation stakeholders is inhibiting the impacts of existing programs, but technology and innovation are increasingly understood as essential drivers to propel Africa forward in meeting its development goals. These were some of the main findings of the 2nd IRF Africa Regional Congress which was held July 11th-13th in Windhoek, Namibia.
    Read More
  • Recycled pavement use rises again in the US, according to NAPA
    January 16, 2015
    The use of reclaimed asphalt pavement in the United States increased during 2013 after two years of no rise, according the latest report from the US National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). The report found that more than 73 million tons of reclaimed asphalt pavement and 1.7 million tons of reclaimed asphalt roofing shingles were used in new asphalt pavement mixes in the United States during in 2013. Using recycled asphalt material saved about $2 billion in 2013 over the use of virgin materials,
    Read More
  • Researchers trial 3D printing for both concrete and asphalt roads
    February 27, 2019
    Automated road repairs, using 3D printing, could save money and vastly reduce disruption, and researchers are already showing it’s possible - Kristina Smith reports It’s the middle of the night, and in the street below a team is busy carrying out repairs to the road surface. But there isn’t a human in sight. A road repair drone has landed at the site of a crack and a 3D asphalt printer is now busy filling in that crack. A group of traffic cone drones have positioned themselves around the repair location
    Read More
  • RAP extends road maintenance and construction budgets
    October 26, 2020
    As fuel tax revenue disappears in the pandemic, the city of Janesville, Wisconsin is seeing savings and performance benefits
    Read More

Highlighted Content