To build on a strong reputation by promoting the effective and sustainable use of asphalt in the construction and maintenance of roads in Europe, EAPA Symposium topics were chosen accordingly on those issues. This was intended to explain not only the state-of-the-art technology now available, but also the challenges and opportunities of the European asphalt road industry concerning both technical and social issues.
Related with those current and future issues concerning the asphalt sector, the presentations were made by high-level speakers. The opening speech was made by Ayberk Ozcan, EAPA and the Turkish Asphalt Contractors Association (ASMUD) president. This was followed by the keynote speaker, Ismail Ertug, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), coordinator of the Social Democrats for the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) in the European Parliament. Ertug made a speech that included the tasks and duties of the European Parliament (EP) and the latest news from Brussels relating to transportation and infrastructure.
He explained the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). He also explained in more detail how the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), EC president Juncker‘s investment plan for Europe, works.
The Investment Plan for Europe aims to encourage investment in strategic projects around Europe and ensure that the financing has benefits for the real economy. This should unlock additional public and private investment of at least €315 billion over the next three years. The EFSI aims to overcome current market failures and will address market gaps by taking on some of the risk. It will also mobilise private investment and other relevant public funding. In the area of transport, the EFSI focuses on strategic infrastructure, including digital, transport and energy. Ertug explained that Europe’s politicians realised the need to improve transport infrastructure in the European Union. A possible financial solution for these problems could be additional infrastructure financing from the EU and EU member states through distance-based road charging for commercial and private vehicles. Ertug also underlined the importance of communication with industry and the decision makers in Brussels. However, he commented that an issue that could cause problems is the seeming lack of expertise in the area of infrastructure development, with a shortage of planners, engineers and consultants.
The symposium continued with the other speeches on the importance of social media and addressing asphalt advantages. Then the special session focused on warm mix asphalt and how to increase its use in the EU.
The session titled News from Brussels and the EAPA Committees was intended to inform the participants about EAPA’s work relating to EU laws. The topics were European research activities, Environmental Product Declarations and characterisation of bituminous binders. The last session was called Trends and News in the European Asphalt Industry and focused on road maintenance, recycling and cold mixes.
The next day technical tour was arranged for the participants to the Third Bosporus Bridge, currently under construction. The bridge is designed as a combination of a cable-stayed and a suspension structure and is being built by PPP system using the build–operate–transfer (BOT) method. The structure’s highest towers are 323m high while it has the greatest span length between pylons for a cable-stayed bridge, at 1,408m. The bridge also has a deck almost 60m wide, which will carry four lanes of traffic in either direction as well as two railway lanes.
The Istanbul event was highly successful and presented a key opportunity for networking, exchange and discussions. As a result, EAPA is working with EUROBITUME to organise the important sixth Eurasphalt & Eurobitume Congress (E&E Congress), which will be held on 1-3 June 2016 in Prague. More than 1,000 asphalt and bitumen industry professionals and stakeholders from all over the world are expected to attend Europe’s leading technical event for the asphalt roads industry.
The E&E 2016 event will feature keynote presentations from high-profile speakers, a large exhibition space and an extensive and comprehensive technical programme. The theme selected for E&E 2016 is 'Investing in our Greatest Asset – Roads'. Our road networks are the greatest assets we have and we must invest in them to be able to meet future needs.
