The management of road assets is becoming increasingly important in the current global context. Design, construction and maintenance are being adapted to improve and guarantee the durability of structures. The resilience of infrastructure to climate change is being sought. The priority objective is to avoid disorders that could jeopardise the operation and safety of road infrastructure. Technical reports on this subject have already been published on the PIARC website, and a Road Management Manual is currently being updated.
Our task focused on a Report of recommendations on how to develop and implement earthworks management systems. To do this, we wanted to use a simplified survey of the member countries of TC D.4. The results presented were very partial. In fact, two observations emerged:
- Road asset management systems are not yet organised in many countries.
- When the management system is operational, earthworks are not considered in most countries.
In view of these two observations, this technical report takes on all its importance in establishing specific recommendations for earthworks. These recommendations must be taken into account in road infrastructure management systems. We emphasise the importance of earthworks in road infrastructure in economic and environmental terms, and in terms of their durability as pavement support. The inventory, assessment and monitoring of specific or sensitive earthworks must be organised as a priority in the management system, to support the decision-making process. The definition of these structures is proposed in this Report. Particular attention must also be paid to the hydraulic and drainage structures associated with earthworks to avoid the frequent risk of disruption.