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PIARC (World Road Association), founded in 1909 and comprising 125 member governments from all over the world, is the global forum for exchange of knowledge and experience on roads, road transport policies and practices. With consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, the Association is contributing to a stable and sustainable global development of the road and transport sector.

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Proceedings of the XXVIth World Road Congress - Abu Dhabi 2019

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

The XXVIth World Road Congress was held in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), from 6 to 10 October 2019 under the theme "Connecting Cultures, Enabling Economies".

This Congress was organised in close cooperation between PIARC (World Road Association), responsible for the content and implementation of the programme, and the Ministry of Transport of Abu Dhabi , in charge of the material organisation of this Congress on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

The XXVIth World Road Congress was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates. The Congress was supported by the Federal Transport Authority and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, to name just the two main supporting entities.

The Congress attracted 42 Ministers of Transport, 7 keynote speakers, 150 exhibitors, over 5,000 delegates from 145 countries. They were treated to a programme of 75 sessions and workshops, 500 oral presentations, 243 posters and 6 technical visits.

  1. Proceedings of the Congress
  2. Highlights of the Congress in video
  3. General Report of the Congress
  4. Official Bulletins of the Congress
  5. Routes / Roads articles of the Congress

Proceedings of the Congress

The Abu Dhabi Congress 2019 proceedings are available online.

There you will find:

  • The general report of the Congress, prepared by GHD under contract with the Ministry of Transport of Abu Dhabi on behalf of the United Arab Emirates,
  • The Congress programme, including the technical programme and accompanying persons' programme,The introductory reports and conclusions of the sessions,
  • Individual papers selected by the Technical Committees and Task Forces from the proposals received to the call for papers,
  • National reports produced by PIARC member countries for the strategic direction sessions,
  • PIARC's activity report for each of the years since the last World Road Congress in Seoul in 2015.

Highlights of the Congress in video

XXVIth PIARC World Road Congress - Highlights


General Report of the Congress

The General Report of the Congress was prepared by GHD under contract with the Ministry of Transport of Abu Dhabi on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

This General Report was prepared by an independent team of reporters tasked with capturing, reviewing, summarizing and documenting the fundamental core of content covered across the full breadth and depth of the Congress’s technical programme as documented in the summaries prepared by the Congress Session Chairs.

This report sets out a structured summary of each technical focus area in a simple, thorough and consistent format. It includes not only the prefacing background to the issues, but a summary of the current focus issues and development areas, along with key outcomes, resolutions, findings and results; and importantly, the associated impacts on both key decision makers and PIARC (and other international organisations).

The objective of this report is to produce a central document that acts as a historical archive for future reference requirements, as well as a guiding blue print to map the course for the next four years of road and transport technical development and advancement.


Official Bulletins of the Congress

For the record, the two Congress Bulletins are downloadable below:


Routes / Roads articles of the Congress