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A Review of Road Structure Data in Six European Countries
Date Issued
2011-08
Date Available
2013-11-08T13:56:33Z
Abstract
The European Union has expanded significantly in recent years. Sustainable trade within the Union leading to economic growth to the benefit of the 'old' and 'new' member states is thus extremely important. The road infrastructure is strategic and vital to such development since an uneven transport infrastructure, in terms of capacity and condition, has the potential to reinforce uneven development trends and hinder economic convergence of old and new member states. Significantly, in the decades since their design and construction, loading conditions have significantly changed for many major highway infrastructure elements/networks due primarily to increased freight volumes and vehicle sizes. This coupled with the gradual deterioration of a significant number of highway structures, due to their age, and the absence of a pan-European assessment framework can be expected to affect the smooth functioning of the infrastructure in its as-built condition, through increased periods of reduced flow due to planned and unplanned interventions for repair/rehabilitation. This paper reports the findings of a survey regarding the current status of the highway infrastructure elements in six countries within the European Union as reported by the owners/operators. The countries surveyed include a cross section of ‘existing’ older countries and ‘new’ accession countries. The current situations for bridges, culverts, tunnels and retaining walls are reported along with their potential replacement costs. The findings act as a departure point for further studies in support of a Centralized and/or Synchronised EU approach to Infrastructure Maintenance Management. Information in the form presented in this paper is central to any future decision making frameworks in terms of trade route choice and operations, monetary investment, optimized maintenance, management and rehabilitation of the built infrastructure and the economic integration of the newly joined member states.
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
Thomas Telford Ltd.
Journal
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers Journal of Urban Design and Planning
Volume
164
Issue
4
Start Page
225
End Page
232
Copyright (Published Version)
2011 Thomas Telford Ltd.
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
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