COST Actions in the field of road pavements
The European Commission, DG VII, has published the final reports of two COST Transport Actions in the field of road pavements. COST 324 considered the "Long-term performance of road pavements". Given the high volume of traffic on Europe's roads, there is a need to develop improved methods for the construction, maintenance and monitoring of roads. Considerable work has been done in Europe, but at national level. This COST Action was initiated to avoid further fragmentation in this field and duplication of efforts. The results of the project have now been fed into a second generation project, entitled Performance Analysis of Road Infrastructure (PARIS), which will continue developing means to improve the performance of European roads. COST 325 looked at "New pavement monitoring equipment and methods". The aim of this Action is to encourage the development of new monitoring equipment and methods for roads. The monitoring equipment currently in use is seen to be too slow, inefficient and unsafe. Following a review of existing practices and requirements, the project has generated specifications of technical and operational requirements for future equipment and methods. It is anticipated that equipment based on these specifications will be available in Europe within around eight years.