Features

Characteristics of traffic speed and flow in managed freeways - *Dr Adrian Withill. In order to maximise the benefits of existing infrastructure, in terms of reduced delays and increased safety, many governments have recently been introducing projects that measure traffic speed and flow and automatically introduce advisory or mandatory speed limits. Such schemes tend to offer relatively quick wins at relatively lower capital costs than traditional highway construction. In light of the current world economy,

Billions of dollars are invested each year in highway construction and maintenance projects across the world. Up to 5% of these funds are estimated to be lost on account of insufficient ethical and financial oversight. Highway Agencies and tendering authorities are particularly at risk. Implementing financial integrity principles stretches public budgets further and is beneficial to the relation with private sector contractors. According to the World Bank, the most common forms of wrongdoing are collusion

Held every four years since 1952, IRF World Meetings have always offered the international road community a rare opportunity to present what they do best and discuss what they could do better. As he prepares to take on the role of chairman of the Outreach Committee, Jean-Claude Roffé, a senior manager at Colas, notes “there isn’t a single recipe for successful World Meetings, but collective experience gained over the last half-century provides guidance in at least three areas:” Local support, global succes

We meet with Dr. Essam Sharaf, the former Prime Minister of Egypt, who has been honoured as IRF Personality of the Year for 2011 On 28 March, at a moving ceremony packed with IRF friends and delegates from all over the world, the IRF Personality of the Year Award for 2011 was formally presented to Dr. Essam Abdel-Aziz Sharaf. Discerned annually since 1951, the Award honours individuals universally acknowledged as having made particularly inspirational contributions to the fields of road infrastructure and

Research in the US has shown that using Intelligent Compaction (IC) for quality control purposes can lead to longer-lasting pavements and therefore lower whole life costs. Now the major roller manufacturers are investing heavily in developing new technologies that will meet emerging specifications in the States. “It may take five to ten years but I think that IC will be widely used for both soils, aggregate base and asphalt pavement materials in the US,” said Bob Horan, senior regional engineer at the Asph

Re-using crumb rubber in asphalt offers numerous benefits – Mike Woof In the US, the use of crumb rubber from old car and truck tyres in asphalt mixes has been tried over a number of years. The technology has improved considerably too, with this approach now offering much longer lasting performance. Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is one of the latest states to adopt this approach and has amended its road construction specifications to include recycled tyre rubber as an alternative to conventi