You have been invited to a ROADEX webinar of Updating the forecast model for thaw-weakening to be presented by Salla Konttinen, University of Oulu

Approximately 20 years ago, the University of Oulu and the Finnish Transport Agency collaboratively developed a predictive model for spring thaw weakening on gravel roads. This model is currently employed by the Finnish Transport Agency to generate forecasts regarding the severity of spring thaw weakening on gravel roads. These forecasts are particularly utilized in planning heavy transport during the thaw-weakening season, impacting sectors such as timber and food transportation. The predictive model is based on road and climate data and is produced in collaboration with the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

In recent years, however, the predictive model has been identified as deficient and in need of updating. The update was conducted in collaboration between the Finnish Transport Agency and the University of Oulu during the autumn of 2024. Study findings revealed deficiencies in the functionality of the predictive model. To enhance the model, three strategy models were developed, and several factors influencing the formation of thaw weakening, which require further investigation, were identified. The webinar will present the background of the thaw weakening predictive model, project results, and strategy models.

Please, feel free to forward this invitation to persons, who might be interested.

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You have been invited to a ROADEX webinar of Implementation of PEHKO results in Finland to be presented by Dr Timo Saarenketo from Roadscanners Oy.

Feel free to forward the invitation to anyone in your organization, and to people who you think might be interested to the webinar.

PEHKO project has been developing and testing new and innovative techniques and policies for the different processes of pavement maintenance. The aim of the project has been to improve the productivity of pavement maintenance and daily maintenance, increasing the service life of pavements and, at the same time, significantly reducing annual maintenance costs.

Now when the PEHKO project has ten years of measured survey results in Finland, it is possible to draw clear conclusions, about the main factors contributing to the increase in the life cycle costs of pavements in Finland and what should be done with them in the future. Recently written guidelines how to implement these findings has been published. Timo Saarenketo will present these guidelines.

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This ROADEX webinar about New Gravel Road Condition Survey Technologies was held on 24/10/2024 by Timo Saarenketo from Roadscanners Oy.

Watch the recording from here.

ROADEX webinar about new gravel road policies in Finland was held on 21st of February by  Jarkko Pirinen from Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency.

Watch the recording from here.

You are invited to a ROADEX webinar on new technologies on gravel and forest road surveys to be presented by Dr Timo Saarenketo from Roadscanners Finland. Please see below the detailed description of what will be covered.

Feel free to forward the invitation to anyone in your organization, and to people who you think might be interested to the webinar.

Roughly 1/3 of the road networks in ROADEX area are gravel roads and most of the forest roads in the world are also unpaved roads. Even though their traffic volume is low, their importance to local economies is great.

Due to their nature these roads have very light structures and are exposed to seasonal changes and their condition can vary from very smooth and comfortable ride to extremely poor or even unpassable condition.

With good maintenance practices gravel and forest roads can be kept in much better shape. The problem however is that almost all the survey methods used so far have been based on subjective visual condition analysis and that is why no objective or repeatable condition has been collected from the roads. This presentation will focus on presenting some of the new techniques such as 3D accelerometers, laser scanners and GPR techniques in the analysis of functional and structural condition of gravel and forest roads.

This webinar will act also as a preview of the coming ROADEX eLearning package that will be published in January-February 2023.

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You are invited to a ROADEX webinar on climate change to be presented by Craig Love. Please see below the detailed description of what will be covered.

Feel free to forward the invitation to anyone in your organization, and to people who you think might be interested to the webinar.

Climate change is at the forefront of our lives every day. The declaration of the climate emergency across the world and ambitious net-zero targets emphasise the need for all of us to take action. But how can we can make robust and informed decisions about tackling climate change if we don’t have an understanding of the issue?

What is climate literacy and how can it help?
Essentially, climate literacy is having an understanding of the influence you can have on our climate, and an understanding of how our climate can, in turn, influence you and our wider society. This can help you to:

• assess scientifically credible information about climate
• make informed decisions
• embed sustainability into your work
• feel more confident addressing climate change
• communicate about climate in a meaningful way

Craig Love is an internationally recognised climate change mitigation and adaptation practitioner, experienced in delivering sustainability in the public and transport infrastructure sector. He is a Chartered Environmentalist and a Member of the IES, Energy Managers Association, Permanent International Association of Road Congresses (PIARC) Technical Committee 1.4 Climate Change & Resilience of Road Networks and sits on the Adaptation Scotland board. He has an MSc in Carbon Management and a PgCert in both Climate Change Management and Carbon Innovation. Craig is currently a Climate Change and Sustainability Manager at Transport Scotland, overseeing a team responsible for corporate climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and resilience, the circular economy, noise and flooding.

Craig developed Transport Scotland’s Carbon Management Plan 3rd Edition, which has seen the agency’s corporate emissions reduce by over 70% in six years. He has also provided contributions to both the UK Climate Risk Independent Assessment (CCRA3) and Climate Ready Scotland: climate change adaptation programme 2019-2024 and was a member of Adaptation Scotland’s Expert Working group who helped to develop Scotland Adapts: A Capability Framework for a Climate Ready Public Sector.

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The Remibar project (Remediation of migratory barriers in Nordic/fennoscandian watercourses) aims to improve the continuity of watercourses in Sweden. The project was funded by EU Commissions LIFE+ programme. Watercourses are ecological corridors in the landscape and are regularly crossed by roads and railways, sometimes causing ecological problems particularly where culverts and bridges are not constructed to an appropriate standard. Poorly installed culverts can pose obstacles and make it hard and sometimes impossible for fish and other species to migrate. The ReMiBar project offers several ideas to overcome such migration barriers and its knowledge is therefore very important when working with improving and constructing new rural roads, especially when dealing with water and drainage.

Learn more about the project by following this link to the ReMiBar website.

www.trafikverket.se/en/startpage/planning/Remibar

Watch the video:

The ROADEX Network has published an external independent academic assessment on the benefits and savings of the alternative road asset management strategies suggested by ROADEX over the period 1998 – 2012. The aim of the work, by Professor Pekka Leviäkangas, was to critically evaluate the 2012 ROADEX IV summary report “ROADEX benefits and savings – achieving more with less”.  The evaluation looked into the ROADEX results, methodologies and approaches, with the main focus on the economic and financial matters of the published ROADEX strategies.

The evaluation was both critical and complimentary of the works of ROADEX, and gives excellent guidance for the current ROADEX NETWORK partners for future collaborations.

This report can be downloaded from the ROADEX website.