NEWSLETTER N°102
January 2022

As you read this a whole month of the New Year, 2022 would have passed. Nevertheless, I still take this opportunity to wish you all Happy New Year! May the new Year relieve us all of the burden of the pandemic of the past two years and, brings happiness and good health for all of us.

It is an honour and privilege for me to be ‘talking’ to you all as the newly elected President. It is also a new chapter in the life of PIARC. A newly elected President and leadership team (ExCom) with fresh collective ideas and goals; for the advancement of matters related to road infrastructure and road transport. I undertake to ensure that PIARC continues to explore and take on challenges such as finding sustainable solutions for climate change, rural development, improvements to urban mobility and helping low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) realize their full road infrastructure potential. Furthermore, we will continue to share our collective knowledge and experiences with society.

>> Read the full editorial

Building together a more resilient path for 2022! 

PIARC concludes a year marked by cooperation and teamwork, which were key to the success of the numerous activities that we organised.

Find out all about what has taken place in 2021, what is to come in 2022, and the farewell message from the now Past President, Claude Van Rooten!

>> Read more

It’s not too late! Register now to attend the XVI World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress! 

7 – 11 February 2021

If you haven't registered yet, don't worry, you still have a few days left.

Our virtual Congress will be a unique opportunity to meet and reconnect with a network of contacts in the road and transport sector and to enjoy a full programme with a wide variety of sessions. You can not miss it! 

>> Check the latest updates and register

PIARC launches a new call for proposals: special project on carbon neutrality in the road sector. Get involved! 

This year, PIARC’s Special project will cover the issue of carbon neutrality within the road sector. Transport must contribute through reduction of transport demand, innovation, better usage of existing infrastructure, for example. We also need to consider the construction, maintenance and operation of the roads and the road infrastructures which also have impact on the greenhouse gas emissions and should be optimised to reduce the overall impact.

The call is already open! You can submit your proposals in English by February 23.

>> Read the Call for Proposals to know more

PIARC and CEDR international seminar on Intelligent Access kicked off a new year of collaborative learning 

27 January 2022

PIARC and the Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR) organised a joint webinar to share knowledge and experiences on Intelligent Access for road freight transport with experts from all over the world.

>> Recording available here
>> Learn more about the Intelligent Access seminar

PIARC attended the TRB Annual Meeting in Washington

9 – 13 January 2022, Washington DC (USA)

PIARC was present at the 101st Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting that was held from January 9 to 13. It was a great opportunity to meet experts in colleagues in-person at last.

Numerous attendees stopped by the PIARC and Calgary 2022 booth to learn more about the Association, as well as to gather information about the upcoming World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress, which will be held virtually from 7 to 11 February.

To be noted: Gerardo Flintsch, chair of the PIARC Technical Committee 3.3 "Asset Management", introduced PIARC to the public during one of the conference sessions, and the cooperation between PIARC and TRB was addressed during the meeting of the “International Cooperation Council”, and with our TRB counterparts.

Fruitful discussions with PIARC’s partners 

17 December 2021

The latest news and developments were discussed during our 7th Advisory Group meeting with our partner organisations.

>> Learn more about PIARC’s partners

Fruitful discussions to review our progress during the Mid-Term Meeting 

30th November to 3rd December 2021

This cycle’s Mid-Term Meeting was organised virtually from 30^th November to 3^rd December. It was spread out over four days in order to enable participation from all time zones.

Discussions were very lively and enabled a great exchange of ideas and plans on a wide diversity of issues.

Many thanks to all those who took part and to those who prepared or led one of the workshops!

>> Check out the MTM highlights!

PIARC Technical Committee 1.1 "Performance of Transport Administrations" met in Seville 

November 2021, Seville (Spain)

Technical Committee 1.1, "Performance of Transport Administrations" met in Spain to progress the work assigned for the 2020-2023 work cycle and was invited to technical visits in the city

It also organised a hybrid seminar on “Innovation and the Innovative Organization”.

>> Check out Technical Committee 1.1 "Performance of Transport Administrations" work

PIARC presented its work on innovation at the FEHRL Infrastructure Research Meeting 2021 

7-8 December 2021

The Secretary General of PIARC, Patrick Malléjacq, had responded to the invitation of FEHRL ("Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories") to present PIARC's approach on innovation during the meeting "FIRM21" on "Innovative roads for everyone's mobility". Indeed, this issue is one of the cross-cutting themes of the current Strategic Plan; PIARC is interested in innovations that can serve the needs of its members, and especially in feedback that allows to assess their relevance. It was therefore appropriate to participate in this virtual meeting, which allowed to share the approach of the Association and to learn from other speakers, who represented CINEA, CEDR, EUPAVE, the University Gustave Eiffel and POLIS.

>> Watch the presentation here!

CETU celebrates its 50th anniversary! 

The Centre for Tunnel Studies (CETU) is very involved in PIARC’s Tunnels Committee. It celebrated its 50th anniversary last December, which marked half a century of experience serving the tunnel community. On the anniversary, CETU released in a video the testimony of several experts and partners, including past PIARC President, Claude Van Rooten.

>> Check out the video!

REAAA Climate Change, Resilience and Emergency Management Committee meeting

26 November 2021

During the REAAA meeting, which took place virtually on 26^th of November, activities that are carried out together with PIARC were reviewed.

There were discussions of information related to adaptation strategies to increase the resiliency of the road infrastructure, climate change adaptation frameworks and road administration response strategies for natural disasters.

Discover the latest of Autonomus Vehicles and Smart Roads in the latest issue of Routes/Roads 

Routes/Roads 391 is dedicated to autonomous vehicles, their interaction with infrastructure and their consequences for road administrations and operators. This topic is introduced by the presentation of a special project developed by PIARC on “Smart Roads Classification” [...]

>> Download the magazine

Do you know overweight vehicles impact on Road Infrastructure and Safety? Look to our newest report! 

This publication compiled the available information on overweight road freight vehicles around the world, the impacts they have on road infrastructure, road safety and the economic position of road infrastructure managers and collected global best practices [...]

>> Read the report here

Learn more about Bridge and Tunnel Strikes by Oversized Vehicles 

This report details the findings of a study carried out by Roughan & O’Donovan Ltd. (ROD) under PIARC’s supervision.
The objective of the study was to examine proven countermeasures, practices, and technologies used to reduce the incidence of oversize vehicles [...]

>> Read the Special Project here