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NEWSLETTER N°96
April 2021

Our Newsletter is published in English, French and Spanish.

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EDITORIAL

PIARC's partnership policy aims at connecting us to international organisations dealing with roads or transport. This is to enrich our approaches and analyses, and sometimes even to develop joint projects. It also ensures that road infrastructure and road transport services are given the recognition and consideration they deserve.

In this spirit, PIARC has invited its partners to design sessions for the Calgary Congress, to be held virtually in February 2022. These "forward-looking sessions" will be co-constructed around the themes of the Congress, winter service and resilience [...]

>> Read more

Patrick Malléjacq
Secretary General of PIARC

IN BRIEF

Save the new dates for the World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress in Calgary in 2022! 

In order to fit the different time zones, the upcoming virtual World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress in Calgary is shifting to 7-11 February (Calgary time) instead of the 8-11 February 2022. As previously announced, the Congress will shift to an online format due to the ongoing health and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This 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 XVI 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.

>> Join PIARC on February 7-11, 2022 virtually!

Fruitful discussions at the Executive Committee meetings 

PIARC’s Executive Committee met virtually from 14 to 16 April 2021. Topics discussed included progress in the preparation of the virtual World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress in Calgary in 2022 and the work of Technical Committees in the 2020-2023 work cycle. The Committee also discussed the start of its study on issues of gender inclusion and diversity within the association.

In support of the Executive Committee, the different PIARC Commissions (Communication, Finance and Strategic Plan) had also met in the last weeks.

>> Learn more about PIARC’s Executive Committee

Take part in these exciting seminars in May! 

On 5-6 May, the Indian Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and the Indian Road Congress will join forces with PIARC and ITA COSUF to organize a webinar on road tunnel operations. The goal is to provide a common platform to discuss the best available practices and technology, and to recommend the strategy and action plan to identify and overcome the constraints of road tunnelling works.

On 18-19 May, PIARC’s Technical Committee 3.4 “Environmental Sustainability in Road Infrastructure and Transport" will welcome you to their online conference on sustainable roads and eco-infrastructure. The aim of this event is to foster a better understanding of roads sustainability and eco infrastructures in the context of energy transition and climate change.

On 18-20 May, PIARC, the Tunisian Road Association (ATR), the Tunisian Ministry of Equipment, Housing and Infrastructure (MEHI), and the National Observatory of Road Safety (ONSR) invite you to the virtual international conference on Road Safety in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). The three days will be filled with various thematic sessions, each session including several presentations by members of Technical Committee TC3.1 as well as by Tunisian experts.

>> Learn more and sign up

Participate in these two surveys and help PIARC's Task Force 3.1 "Road Infrastructure and Transport Security" 

PIARC's Technical Committees and Task Forces often organise surveys to collect data for their work. This time it is PIARC’s Task Force 3.1 “Road Infrastructure and Transport Security”’s turn to collect data for their research. They have prepared two surveys on “Road Freight” and “Anti-Vandalism Measures and Devices”. Both are available in English, French and Spanish, and should be completed by 15 June 2021.

>> Learn more and fill in the survey

Submit an abstract and share your knowledge in the Environmental Sustainability of Road Transport! 

PIARC’s Technical Committee 3.4 “Environmental Sustainability in Road Infrastructure and Transport”, the Romanian National Committee of PIARC and the Department of Railways, Roads and Bridges of the Cluj-Napoca Technical University are organizing the “Environmental Sustainability of Road Transport: Air Pollution, Noise and Relationship with Energy Transition and Climate Change” International Seminar. You are warmly invited to attend this event, which will take place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, between 20 and 22 October 2021.

Experts on the subjects also have the possibility to submit an abstract before 16 May 2021. Abstracts should be sent via email to “seminar_piarc@utcluj.ro” in a Microsoft Word or Open Access document file, in English or Romanian.

>> Discover the full list of topics and submit your abstract here

Share your knowledge on tunnel operations and send in your paper for the 2nd International Conference on Road Tunnel Operations and Safety and the VIII Spanish Tunnels Symposium! 

Following the success of the 1st PIARC International Conference on Tunnels held in Lyon, France, in October 2018, PIARC and the Spanish National Committee (ATC) will jointly organize the 2nd International Conference on Tunnels and the VIII Spanish Symposium in the new Granada Conference & Exhibition Centre (Granada, Spain) from 25-28 October 2022. This joint event will bring together the knowledge and exchange of international experiences of PIARC in this matter together with the traditional Spanish symposium organized by the ATC every four years. Nearly 1,000 road tunnel professionals from all over the world are expected to attend and generate a global discussion on the topic.

Interested experts can submit their 300-word abstract before 18 July 2021 on the official website of the event.

>> Learn more and participate here

NEWS OF OUR NETWORK

New virtual meeting for PIARC’s Technical Committee 4.3 “Earthworks” 

April 2021, online

PIARC’s Technical Committee 4.3 met up virtually for the third time since the start of the 2020-2023 work cycle. After the kick-off meetings in January 2020, Technical Committees will meet on a bi-annual basis to discuss the progress of their research. In the case of TC 4.3 “Earthworks”, this work focuses on the improvement of the resilience of earth structures to natural hazards, and in particular on the identification of technologies and innovations in their construction and maintenance.

>> Learn more about PIARC’s Technical Committee 4.3 “Earthworks”

PIARC at the "New approach to pavement design and construction" Webinar 

8 April 2021, online

Miguel Caso Florez, PIARC Technical Director, took part in this webinar organized by PIARC National Committee in Spain, ATC, about the future of road pavements. Miguel presented the impact on the pavements of Electric Road Systems, systems able to recharge electric vehicles while moving on the road. The impact depends largely in the ERS that it is implemented, whether it is an inductive system embedded 5 to 10 cm deep in the pavements, or it is a rail inside the pavement surface or on top of the pavement surface, or yet a rail in the lateral barriers or the catenary.

>> Watch the clip here

Successful meeting of Strategic Theme 1 “Road Administration” 

April 2021, online

All experts from Strategic Theme 1 “Road Administration” met up virtually in the week of April 19. The team reviewed the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the topics of the Technical Committees and Task Forces, particularly regarding the Seminars, Conference and Workshops program, and how it could be taken into account.

>> Learn more about PIARC’s Strategic Theme 1 “Road Administrations”

#PIARC ON SOCIAL NETWORKS

“In the current health crisis, with the need for effective ideas, and, taking into account that public transport is a major source of contagion, it is worthwhile, and I would say essential and politically and socially appropriate, to listen to the different experiences described by @PIARC_Roads”

“"Pavements in good condition reduce greenhouse gases for the entire sector by reducing 99% of the emissions produced by vehicles driving on them," says @miguelcasof of @PIARC_Roads.

Follow his presentation at #IRMD2021 at: http://ow.ly/sWQ650EjeUq”

“It is thanks to experts and practitioners like Olivier Quoy @a63_landes that @PIARC_Roads works and can organize knowledge sharing!

Thanks to @_ITSFr and PIARC France for this webinar dedicated to #COVID and #smarttransportation.”

PIARC PUBLICATIONS

Routes/Roads n°388 

Issue 388 of PIARC’s magazine, “Routes/Roads”, is dedicated to freight transport. This topic is of prime importance, as highlighted by the Covid 19 crisis, due to the importance of maintaining logistics chains.

This is illustrated by 7 articles from a wide range of geographical locations [...]

>> Read more

COVID-19: Survey of Impacts and Responses from the Global Roads and Transport Sector 

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic took hold across the world, creating massive impacts and challenges for multiple sectors, including roads and transport. PIARC acted rapidly, forming a COVID-19 Response Team and initiating a programme of knowledge-sharing webinars. 

The Response Team also launched a global survey. The intention was to assess how road and transport agencies, operators and other organizations [...]

>> Read more

Truck-Traffic on Highways for Sustainable, Safer and Higher Energy Efficient Freight Transport 

There are increasing concerns about the issues related to freight transport on highways and motorways, including traffic congestion, lack of capacity, traffic safety, GHG (Green House Gas) emissions, local emissions, noise and vibrations. [...]

>> Read more

UPCOMING EVENTS

PIARC Events

Road Tunnels: Current Trends, Innovations, and Way Forward 

5-6 May 2021

Issues for sustainable roads and eco infrastructures 

18-19 May 2021

Virtual International Seminar "Road Safety in Low to Middle Income Countries: Issues and Countermeasures" 

18-20 May 2021

PIARC will be there

ITF 2021 Summit 

Online
17 – 28 May 2021

PIARC National Committees

Virtual technical workshop "Recommendations for characterising the heritage value of bridges" 

11 May 2021
Spanish National Committee

Webinar: Autonomous vehicles, social and ethical acceptance: present and future scenarios 

28 May 2021
Italian National Committee

Find all the events in the calendar! 

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