NEWSLETTER N°79

May 2019

Dear readers,

The call for papers that we have organized for the XXVI World Road Congress is now closed and we can inform you that more than 400 full papers have been submitted for the 41 themes covered. They are currently being reviewed by our Technical Committees and Task Forces and we will soon contact individual authors to let them know if they are invited to make a presentation. All accepted papers will also be presented in one of our interactive poster sessions - these are an integral part of the program and provide authors with an excellent opportunity to present and discuss their work and conclusions with various participants. The best communications are also analysed by our International Jury, which will identify the winners of our Competition in October. In addition, we will offer 12 workshops and 13 foresight sessions, organised with

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Don't wait any longer! Register for the World Road Congress and benefit from a special rate! 

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 6-10 October 2019

The theme of the 2019 Abu Dhabi World Road Congress will be "Connecting Cultures, Enabling Economies" and will host 250 presentations with more than 50 workshops and sessions

>> To know more about it

Hazardous materials in tunnels: a new PIARC software! 

A new version of the DG-QRAM software (Quantitative Risk Assessment Model for the Transport of Dangerous Goods in Road Tunnels) has just been published! Training sessions are planned for June 24, 25 and 26, 2019 in Paris (in English)

>> To know more about it

United Nations Global Road Safety Week 

May 6-12, 2019

At their recent meetings, Technical Committees C1, National Road Safety Policies and Programmes, and C2, Design and Operation of Safer Road Infrastructure, and as part of Global Road Safety Week, committed themselves to "Speak Up" by contributing to global road safety. The results of the Committees' work are being finalised, new technical reports on road safety topics will be published and an updated version of the PIARC Road Safety Manual will be launched as part of the 2019 World Road Congress in Abu Dhabi!

>> To know more about it

The Executive Committee of the World Road Association met in Argentina 

Buenos Aires (Argentina), April 9 and 10, 2019

The Executive Committee of PIARC, the body responsible for administering the Association on behalf of the Council, met in Buenos Aires (Argentina) on 9 and 10 April 2019. The event brought together the members of the Committee and the Vice-Presidents, the representative of the National Committees, as well as the PIARC President, Claude Van Rooten, the Secretary General of the Association, Patrick Malléjacq, and the coordinators and advisors of the various strategic themes. This meeting was an opportunity to discuss the Association's objectives for the period 2020-2023.

PIARC also met with the First Delegates of the Ibero-American countries, the National Committees of the region and DIRCAIBEA to share best practices and exchange information related to the road sector

>> More about the PIARC Executive Committee

Building the future of connectivity

Paris (France), February 2019

How can better transport connectivity improve people's lives? Some 50 representatives of international organisations, including PIARC, provided their particular views at the annual ITF stakeholder consultation prior to the 2019 Summit. The event was preceded by a "Women in Transport" meeting to discuss gender issues in transport.

International Seminar of the Indian Road Congress

New Delhi, January 2019

PIARC Vice-President Mr. Kikukawa participated in the International Seminar on "Construction and Maintenance of Rigid Pavement - Current Practices and Future Prospects", which the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) organized in January 2019 in India.

During the opening session, he delivered a speech emphasizing that PIARC intends to cooperate more actively and more closely with the Indian Road Congress, which is a PIARC's National Committee since 1937.

Norwegian Road Director and First Delegate to PIARC Terje Moe Gustavsen dies at the age of 64

Director General of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) since November 2007 and First Delegate to PIARC since 2008, Mr Terje Moe Gustavsen passed away on May 4th, 2019. He was an enthusiastic and clear leader who made a great difference. Among many important issues, he was particularly concerned with road safety. He was a relentless driving force in the battle against road traffic mortality. When he took over as head of the NPRA in 2007, 233 people lost their lives on Norwegian roads; NPRA had managed to reduce fatalities to 108 by 2018. In the last five years, Norway has been the country in Europe where people have the lowest risk of dying in traffic, according to the European Transport Safety Council.

He had previously occupied high-ranking positions in the Norwegian Postal Services, as well as in the Trade Union of Public Servants, several employers' associations and served as Transport Minister in 2000-2001. Particularly committed to PIARC, Mr. Gustavsen had been member of its Executive Committee in 2012-2015.

PIARC experts share their know-how all over the world 

January - May 2019

PIARC has already organised many seminars, workshops and meetings this year! In Kuala Lumpur, Brussels, Florence, Ljubljana, Athens, Irvine, Oslo, Zurich, Cologne, Prague and Rome to discuss road safety, bridge technology and the environmental dimension of road projects.

PIARC's vision is to play "a leading role in the exchange of knowledge on policies and practices in an integrated and sustainable transport context". To this end, it regularly brings together international experts at seminars and congresses.

>> Proceedings of PIARC international seminars

>> Calendar of events

Guidelines for pavement design in French-speaking Sub-Saharan African countries: Inception meeting of our new project 

PIARC and the Association of African Road Managers and Partners (Agepar) met in February 2019 in Abidjan-Plateau. The objective was to conduct discussions with a view to developing a methodological document on the production of catalogues and guides for pavement design in French-speaking Sub-Saharan African countries.

>> To know more about it

Introduction to the RAMS Concept for Road Tunnel Operation 

Due to the confined space of a road tunnel, many safety measures are aimed at controlling the risks associated with fires and dangerous goods. However, practice generally shows that tunnel injuries and deaths are in fact related to traffic accidents that may also occur on the road. This report presents and recommends possible technical and organisational measures to reduce the probability (prevention) or mechanical consequences (mitigation) of tunnel accidents, i.e. accidents in which the specific characteristics of the tunnel play a role in either cause or effect.

>> Consult the technical report

Routes/Roads 380 - Environment 

This issue of Routes/Roads is dedicated to the environment. A long article returns to the posterity of the International Framework for the Adaptation of Road Infrastructure to Climate Change, the result of a special project of the Association in 2015, which had been a kind of kick-start for PIARC to take climate change into account in its reflections. This article is complemented by various contributions from the Committees dealing with winter road maintenance, tunnels, as well as by the presentation of a special project carried out in 2018.

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Low-cost ITS 

The concept of low-cost ITS was first introduced during the 2012-2015 PIARC cycle. The concept described ITS services that were attractive to resource-limited or developing countries. This has been made possible by the recent emergence of low-cost technological solutions, including information systems [...]

>> Consult the technical report