The Section for Road Maintenance and Management
The staff of the Section for Road Maintenance and Management perform measurements and third party quality control in the field of the properties of road surfaces and pavement structures. During such monitoring work, using special equipment the initial state of road pavements is determined and assessed, so that the basic data are obtained which are needed for their management. The work of the Section thus helps to make the management of the Slovenian road network more efficient, so that better use is made of the funds which are available for road maintenance.
Using the available special testing equipment, different types of tests are carried out, as well as expert studies and research work. The staff of the Section actively co-operate with other experts in Slovenia and in other countries.
Activities
- Preparation of expert studies and consulting concerning the properties of road surfaces and pavement structures, for the managers of road networks and other investors in the field of road management.
- Inclusion of the results of field tests in road management systems, enabling better use of the funds which are available for road maintenance.
- Being internationally recognized in their own field of work, the staff of the Section constantly update their knowledge. They collaborate with Slovenian and international experts through involvement in a number of projects and in professional associations.
Measurements and tests
Evaluation of the state of new pavements, determination and assessment of the condition of existing pavements, contributing towards the management of the national road network.
- Third party quality control of newly constructed motorways and their sections (third party quality control in the case of the program for the construction of motorways in the Republic of Slovenia),
- Third party quality control of the quality of other newly built national and local roads,
- Monitoring of the condition of the road network and of individual road sections (periodical measurements of skid resistance and the macro-texture of pavement surfaces, as well as of the longitudinal unevenness on the motorway network and the remaining national road network)
- Determination of the condition of roads: motorways, other national roads, and local roads.
- Preparation of the results of measurements for the Slovenian Road Databank, for further use and analysis,
- Education and training from the Section's field of work.
The Section's work is concerned with the following properties of pavement structures and road surfaces:
- longitudinal and transverse unevenness
- skid resistance
- macro-texture
- deflection / bearing capacity
- surface distress
Based on the results of tests and research work the Section is also active in the fields of:
- road traffic noise
- the impact of road traffic and the traffic infrastructure on the environment
Equipment
- for measurements of skid resistance and macro-texture
- for measurements of longitudinal and transverse profiles
- for measurements of deflections as a measure of the bearing capacity of pavements
Research and development
In the research field we mainly concentrate on:
- the management of roads and the corresponding elements of management
- methods and equipment for measuring and monitoring the pavement surface characteristics
- traffic safety
- the effect of the construction and maintenance of roads on the environment
- protection of the road infrastructure
Co-operation in international associations
The Section's specialized field of work means that it is important that its experts co-operate internationally with other experts and researchers from different fields both in Slovenia and in other countries. Part of this work involves membership in the bodies of various associations from this field:
- WRA/PIARC – the World Road Association
- Since 2012, co-ordination of the work of PIARC National Committees
- Since 2007, participation in the work of the technical committee: Management of Road Assets
- Since 2012, participation in the work of the technical committee: Security Task Force
- Between 2007 and 2011, participation in the work of the technical committee: Road surface characteristics
- The Section was among the initiators of the establishment of NK PIARC - Slovenia's PIARC National Committee, which is organized as a non-profit organization for joint presentations within the scope of international co-operation in the development of the field of roads and the traffic infrastructure
- CEDR - the Conference of European Directors of Roads, where, in co-operation with the Slovenian Infrastructure Agency, we participate in the work of:
- CEDR Executive Board (EB)
- CEDR Technical Group Research (TGR)
- Various working bodies
- CEDR Asset management
- CEDR Winter maintenance
- CEDR Climate change
- CEDR Road indicators
- FEHRL – National Road Research Centres in Partnership
- As the first national representatives from Eastern Europe, we have been a member of FEHRL since 1994
- We participate actively in the management of FEHRL at the strategic level, in the organization of research projects, in other scientific-technical co-operation, and in the work of FEHRL Executive Committee (FEC)
