XVI World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress
Calgary, 08-11 February 2022
Let’s meet in Calgary (Canada) on 8-11 February 2022
for the XVI World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress. The
overall theme for the Congress is "Adapting to a Changing World".
There will be two complementary themes in the 2022 Congress:
Winter service
Resilience (without seasonal constraints)
PIARC’s congresses have been successful over the years due to their inclusiveness.Unfortunately, it became apparent to PIARC, Transport Canada, and the City of Calgary that due to the pandemic - the emergence of variants of Covid-19 that erupt unexpectedly, the uncertainty of vaccine supply around the world, and the associated economic repercussions being felt in nations - the ability to attend an international congress may be reduced for many, if not most, member countries and PIARC’s partners/stakeholders.
As a result, a unique virtual platformwill be set up to enable a full event to be held in times of a pandemic. It will allow decision-makers as well as technical experts, road authorities and administrators, operators, equipment manufacturers and engineers, and academia to take part in the XVIth edition of the Congress. It will also be easier and more cost-effective for all countries to take part in the Congress since authors and delegates will not need to cover transportation and accommodation expenses.
Although it is going digital because of the current pandemic situation, the main aspects of the XVIth World Congress on Winter Road Service and Road Resilience remain unchanged:
The Congress will address winter service, as in previous editions, as well as road resilience (in all seasons). This is reflected in the 15 topics of the international call for papers.
English and French are official languages of the Congress. Congress organizers will make every effort to provide Spanish interpretation should there be sufficient registration of delegates who indicate Spanish as their preferred language.
The Congress will be of interest to practitioners, road authorities and operators, as well as experts and academia. The papers should present case studies, research results and/or practical experiences related to the topics of the call.
The World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress is a world-class event that builds on decades of PIARC experience, which brings together road experts and practitioners from across the globe. This will be the XVIth edition of the International Winter Road Congress, which PIARC has organised every four years since 1969.
Winter topics will be a major pillar of the Congress: traffic management, pavement conditions, de-icing agents, equipment, information to users, etc.
It will also be more than that. In order to reflect the megatrends that impact the road sector, PIARC has decided, together with our Canadian hosts, to broaden the themes to include resilience. Ensuring the resilience (without seasonal constraints) of roads and of transport services is indeed a priority for our members, who are confronted with deteriorating infrastructure, budget constraints, adverse climate events, and rapidly evolving user expectations.
This is why the 2022 Congress will be relevant for all countries.
The Congress will offers, through a unique virtual platform, many sessions, a ministers' meeting, an exhibition, and the International Snowplough Championship.
For this XVIth edition, PIARC is calling for
individual contributions on selected topics in order to enrich and broaden the
views and work of its Technical Committees and Task Forces.
There
will be two complementary themes in the 2022 Congress:
Winter service
Resilience (without seasonal constraints)
Contributions are invited only on the topics described in the call text. The papers should present case studies, research results and/or practical experience related to the topics of this call. Papers proposed by practitioners, road authorities, operators, experts, academics... are welcome.
Papers will be reviewed by the Technical Committees
and Task Forces. Papers that are accepted will be published in the Congress
proceedings and will provide input into the Congress sessions. All authors of
accepted papers will present their work and results at interactive poster
sessions. Some outstanding contributions will be selected for an oral presentation
during the Congress.
Content: All
papers must be original and authorized for publication. Proposals that
have already been published will not be accepted.
Any
reference of a political, commercial or advertising nature is excluded from the
papers, as is the indication of a trademark in the title or summary.
Language: Abstracts may be submitted in English (mandatory), French and Spanish.
February 28, 2021: Deadline for submission of abstracts
April 15, 2021: Notification
of accepted abstracts
August 15, 2021: Deadline
for submission of full papers
November 1, 2021: Notification
of accepted full papers
8-11 February 2022: XVI World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress (Calgary 2022)
PIARC
Prizes 2022
Prizes
will be awarded to the best papers among individual contributions as a result
of the call for papers. More information will be released on the Congress
website later.
Are you an expert on Canada, Canada-Quebec, Chile, Spain, the United States, France, Japan or Poland? These countries organize a national competition for the best articles. Selected authors will go directly to Calgary 2022. Contact info@piarc.org for more information.
The 2022 Congress will be structured around two
themes: Winter service and Resilience.
WINTER
SERVICE THEME
During extreme winter events, standard response plans may no longer be
valid. These events can have significant consequences for society. In many
countries there are roads in areas with extreme conditions such as mountain
passes requiring convoys, roads in open areas exposed to snow drift and roads
vulnerable to avalanches. But extreme weather conditions can also happen
anywhere; examples include heavy snowfall, freezing rain, extreme cold, fast
changing weather conditions, fast increasing temperature and melting snow which
can cause landslides or flooding.
How can road agencies cope with these challenges and plan to act
accordingly emergency situations regarding:
Organization
Management
Equipment
Contracts
Information
Transportation of dangerous goods
Winter service is dominated by climate and local weather events. How
will climate change affect winter conditions and how will it affect winter
services? How can winter service organizations respond considering a
benefit/cost analysis? What are appropriate planning periods and opportunities
for technology development, new or updated strategies, and quality control of
performance necessary to respond to climate change? Papers might include:
Methodological approach to climate change and how to simulate its
evolution
Taking into account the increased variability in weather events;
their occurrence and strength
Impact of climate change on “winter road climatology”
Operations’ solutions to meet climate change
Changes required in organization, workforce, equipment and
materials (to meet the needs from more extreme event)
MDSS (maintenance decision support system), ITS and use of mobile data
are the new tools to assist in delivering winter service operations and
providing information to the public. Presentations will be made on innovations,
technology and information related to decision-making such as:
Policies and management of road weather data
Integration of road weather information with predicted traffic,
planned maintenance, anticipated incidents etc.
Using assembled weather forecasts (confidence interval,
probabilities) to better manage the risk and the cost of a decision
Using road weather information to improve road condition forecasts
Using road weather information to enhance infrastructure resilience
Using road weather information to model and forecast surface
transportation and weather events
Using road weather and surface condition data collection, including
big data approach (mobile data, etc.)
Winter service evolves over the years with ongoing development and
research. This topic covers all subjects concerning innovation in techniques
and technologies in winter service.
Techniques
Application of de-icers and anti-icers
Improvement in the use of abrasives
Snow and ice clearance procedures and methodologies
Sustainable and adaptive maintenance procedures
Protection against snowdrifts and avalanches
Excludes:
Urban areas
Extreme weather situations
Technologies
New snow and ice clearing equipment
Automation of snow and ice control
New or alternative chemicals or materials
Route selection and optimisation
Specifications and standardisation of equipment and materials
Measurement of residual winter chemicals
Sustainable products or equipment
Excludes:
Weather forecasting and road weather information service (RWIS)
Data collection
Communication with road users
Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV)
Administration of winter
service activities involves the planning and organization of many functions of
road agencies and requires significant resources. Winter service is part of the
operational strategy of Road Administrations. The policies and tools these
administrations use in its management are the subject of this topic.
Strategic planning and organization policies
Definition and measurement of Levels of Service
Regulations relating to the use of roads (example: use of winter
tires)
Cost/benefit analysis
Sustainability considerations in winter service planning
Professional training
Outsourcing / Contracting winter service
Interaction with road users/customers
Performance management
This topic will look at what winter information the general public want
and need to know, and the best platforms to use to ensure the information can
be delivered clearly and efficiently using both manual input and information
being received and sent from connected vehicles. Also, what are the effects
winter conditions will have on connected and autonomous vehicles; and the
effect connected and autonomous vehicles on winter service?
What information does the travelling public need to know?
What are the best and safest platforms to use to get the
information in the public domain?
How can information from the public be used to assist winter
decisions and operations?
How can connected vehicles assist with live information from the
roads?
How is it best to send information and current conditions to
connected vehicles?
What impact do snow and ice have on the safe use of autonomous
vehicles?
Maintenance of the urban network can vary from major highways to
dead-end roads where space is very limited. Most people live in cities and many
do not use personal transportation. Multimodal transport is common in most
cities, snow and ice in winter has an impact on different types of transport
and their connections. Due to the intense use of urban areas the environment of
these areas is exposed to winter service operations. Papers might include:
Optimization and minimization of the routes for winter service
vehicles
Treatment methods, materials and vehicles for winter service on
different types of bicycle facilities, sidewalks and pedestrian areas or
cluttered areas
Accessibility for those with reduced mobility (e.g. tactile paving)
during winter events
Equipment and layout of urban areas, what to do with the snow,
store, remove or thaw?
Accounting for winter weather during the planning/scoping phase of
roads
Solutions to ploughing different surfaces without disadvantaging
any transport mode
How to manage different responsibilities and regulations
How to define a standard and best practice in cities also for
multimodal transport (public transport, pedestrian, bicycle, bus, car)
Methods and technologies for environmentally friendly winter
service
Snow falling from roofs/bridges etc.
RESILIENCE
THEME
Road networks and road transport systems are
exposed to various threats that affect their operations and structural
integrity. This includes climate change, natural or man-made disasters, extreme
weather events, pandemics, together with challenges resulting from aging
infrastructure, increased or heavier traffic, use of non-standard equipment on
roads, etc. Road authorities and other organisations need to design and
implement policies, strategies, holistic methodologies / frameworks and actions
to increase the resilience of the road transport system. Resilience is the
ability to prepare, respond, recover and adapt from such threats. Such
strategies and policies need to enhance resilience of road systems during the
design, construction, maintenance and operations of roads.
This call seeks to identify best practices that increase the resilience
of the road transportation system to all threats/ hazards, including:
climate change and extreme weather
aging infrastructure
natural disasters
man-made disasters
and cyber-physical threats
We encourage submissions that address the assessment of resilience,
implementation of actions to increase resilience, as well as identification of
the economic, social and environmental aspects of resilience management, and
the cost-effectiveness of proven adaptation strategies.
This also includes the development of climate change adaptation
frameworks for road infrastructure and identification of methodologies for risk
management and data requirements (e.g. innovative practices in terms of
acquiring, processing and sharing forecasting data and risk analysis, as well
as the development of platforms integrating geographic information systems -GIS-
and asset management systems). Vulnerability assessments, prioritising risks,
developing and selecting adaptation responses and strategies, and decision
making may consider new and innovative methodological approaches, in particular
criticality assessment, and adaptation pathways.
Best practices should focus on resilience, with special attention to
actions that help to prepare, respond, recover and adapt to future
threats/hazards.
Countries that experience disastrous situations acquire unique
management knowledge and develop tailored countermeasure technologies based on
their experiences. As societies diversify, disaster damage changes as society
changes. Therefore, the type of technology necessary to manage disastrous
situations needs to continually adapt as the needs of road users and of the
society change. Current trend in the management of disastrous event pay more
attention to the quality of the management. Various available data/information
can be easily collected and provided between road administrators and road
users. The interaction with the public and other organization is also a key
word for producing better results. This compares to the traditional disaster
management approach of prioritizing making infrastructure safe. New or updated
managing approach and techniques therefore welcome for the discussion.
Papers shall deal with the following topics:
Application of advanced information and communication technology
Application of user or third-party based data/information such as big
data
Communication with road users using social network technology
Technology for reducing disruption time in disastrous event such as
emergency measures or emergency procurement system
Disaster, risk, and resilient management approach considering
social impact and financial resilience
Promotion of coordination and cooperation with road related
organizations on disaster management
Case studies of good practice of the management of disastrous event
When disruptions happen the ability of road operators to deliver
information properly to road users may be compromised and the efficiency of
road operations may be jeopardized. Hazards occurring along the network (like
winter extreme situations or high impact events for example) can be a challenge
for many Road Operators in terms of ensuring the viability of the road, and
therefore the mobility of people and goods along the network itself.
New technologies offer new possibilities to engage with road users and
avoid disruptions, such as:
Connectivity (i.e. V2X) secures a faster transmission of data than
ever before, allowing road operators to fast track road operations;
Big data and advanced analytics (i.e. machine learning and AI)
allow road operators to perform better especially in times of crisis and
emergencies, ensuring better information in a sensible short period
together with better decision-making processes;
New methods of data collection (i.e. probe data) complement the
panel of information in order to provide customized services to users.
This theme includes all papers that provide experiences of how data
collection, use of new technologies and analysis represent for road operators
valuable assets in order to provide not only basic information but also real
value to road users, improving the efficiency of road network operations.
We encourage submissions that address:
Resilience of pavements and roadside infrastructure, in urban and
rural areas
Experiences with adaption of resilient pavement designs and
materials, e.g. to non-standard tires such as new generation wide based
single tires,
Use of technology for post-disaster investigation and monitoring
resilience
Use of advanced pavement management approaches to
mitigate/incorporate natural or man-made disasters may also be considered
Materials with the potential
for self-healing
Pavement surfaces that retain their characteristics irrespective of
climatic variations, etc.
The papers can be based on theoretical modelling, laboratory research,
in-situ performance evaluation or case studies.
With regard to road bridges, concerns associated with climate change are
the extreme variation of air temperatures, extreme wind due to hurricanes and
typhoons, sea level rise, frequency and intensity of rainfall and associated
flooding, and so on. In addition, seismic events have caused severe damage to
road bridges in seismic areas that have resulted in closing of road networks.
For this topic, papers are invited which describe the following aspects:
Bridge recovery after the occurrence of natural hazards
Mitigation to accommodate effects due to natural hazards for road
bridges
Measures for increasing resilience to climate change
Effects of climate change on bridge design and maintenance
Mitigation to accommodate climate change effects
Climate change resilient bridges
Road Bridges damage-resilience in seismic areas
Seismic retrofit techniques to enhance resilience of road bridges
It is essential to study the effect of natural hazards on existing earth
structures and the measures used for their remediation. Specific measures are
sought in design and construction of earth structures to prevent the effect of
natural hazards on their performance over their design life.
Natural hazards include, but are not limited to:
Heavy rainfall events and flooding
Wind erosion
The action of snow and frost penetration
Rock falls
Soil moisture deficit
Earthquakes, and
Any other effect of global climate change
Papers are invited from any geographical location and involving any
techniques that have been utilised in the past to improve earth structure
performance irrespective of the complexity of the method employed.
Papers may eventually be included in a PIARC report about the resilience
of earth structures.
Compared to the open road, tunnels are relatively vulnerable when it
comes to availability for traffic, because of the many required safety measures
to enable safe passage. Moreover, a traffic incident or fire in a tunnel often
requires more time and effort to normalize the situation than on the open road.
So, in the context of road tunnels, resilience could be described as the
ability to keep the tunnel safely available for traffic, during various
abnormal situations, like traffic incidents, technical malfunctions, extreme
weather conditions, other natural and man-made hazards, or maintenance and
refurbishments.
Papers on this topic should describe cases in which measures were
planned and implemented to improve road tunnel resilience in general or for a specific
road tunnel, focussed on events or circumstances that are particularly relevant
for your situation or experience.
The analysis, design, implementation, monitoring and effectiveness of
the measures in question would be interesting for the reader - “do’s and
don’ts”, recommendations, etc.
PIARC’s Strategic Plan recognizes resilience as one of the global issues
that it should address. Papers that will be submitted to this topic should
relate to PIARC’s Strategic Plan. They
can address in particular:
Resilience of road administration
Resilience and urban mobility related to road infrastructure and
intermodality
Resilience and mobility in rural areas
Resilience of road freight transport
Resilience, safety and sustainability of roads
Asset management and resilience
Security aspects of road resilience
All papers are welcome as long as they deal with roads and road transport. Papers that focus on Climate change and resilience of road networks, Disaster management, Road network operations, Pavements, Bridges, Earthworks, Tunnels should be submitted to the corresponding topic (topics 8 to 14).
The City of Calgary is an exciting
business centre and an outstanding meeting and convention destination. As the
fourth-largest city in Canada, Calgary has a lot to offer visitors from around
the world. In the downtown alone, you can discover over 1,000 shops, 200
restaurants and 50 entertainment spots. Within the city there are also 8,000
hectares of open space and parkland to explore.
As the urban
backbone of Western Canada’s corporate and financial community, Calgary has
come to symbolize rapid growth, enhanced quality of life and a future of
unlimited horizons. Within this cosmopolitan small town, delegates and patrons
will enjoy Calgary’s safe environment, cleanliness and legendary western
hospitality. Not to mention the tantalizing array of pre- and post-meeting
adventures awaiting you in the spectacular Canadian Rockies, only an hour’s
drive from the city’s centre.
CONTACT - INFORMATION PIARC (World Road Association) Mail :info@piarc.org
Calgary in video
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