Editorial

IRF World Congress*
A Road Manifesto

From 11 to 15 June 2001, Paris will be hosting the 14th World Congress of the International Road Federation (IRF). A century earlier in 1908, the very first World Road Congress, which marked the inception of PIARC, was also held in Paris, and today's choice of Paris by the IRF at the beginning of the 21st century, is a great tribute to France's impact on the Road Industry.

As a preview of the IRF Congress, the Lettre de l'Isted gives helpful insight into the key issue of financing road infrastructure and its maintenance, which is a matter of concern to public policy-makers with tight budgets. To meet requirements, various forms of partnership with the private sector are becoming increasingly common in most countries.

Road transport of people and goods has overtaken all the other modes. However, this unquestionable supremacy is criticized as regards aspects to which public opinion is particularly sensitive, such as road safety, vehicle pollution and the automobile's place in the city. These themes, which concern not only professionals and road users but the public at large, will be discussed during the Congress plenary sessions and workshops, with a view to determining trends and showing that satisfactory solutions exist.

As part of the Congress, the 1st World Conference on urban road tunnels, in partnership with PIARC and AITES, will focus on this new infrastructure, which is essential to the development of large cities.

The adoption of a "Road Manifesto" will be the major event in the closing ceremony of this Congress which will enable the participants to discover "Notre-Dame" for a concert and the Louvre for the gala dinner.

Michel HENRY,

Development Manager, Egis
Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Committee, IRF Paris 2001
"Transport Vice-President", Isted

* World Congress of the International Road Federation, 11-15 June 2001, Palais des congrès of Paris.

Contents

• IRF World Congress: A Road Manifesto

• Feature: Road maintenance projects: contractualization procedures
  For the past fifteen years, all countries have been tending towards contractualization of road maintenance and have been testing out different contracting methods - a transition from the public to the private sector which is justified by the need for open competition. Contracts are characterized by an obligation of results and not an obligation of means and by a series of quality level considerations.

• Information Update : News-Events-Training sessions-Publications 

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