Programme

One of the construction industry's biggest challenges in the coming years concerns the recruitment of qualified labour. The demand for skilled labour is high in the road infrastructure sector. At the same time the industry faces a big challenge in becoming attractive as an industry.

What will the future look like if we fail to recruit? We can assume that it will lead to increased costs, delays, and reduced efficiency in the transport sector. Are we prepared to accept this scenario?

What can the industry do to become attractive to a wider group of people? One measure could be to counteract the prejudices that exist within and against the industry linked to diversity, such as ethnicity, sexuality, gender and allow more individual solutions for different stages of life. 

Via Nordica 2024 will discuss this challenge using multi-perspective problem framing.

Speakers/participants: Geir Øien, NTNU, Magnus Nygård, Finnish Transport Administration. More speakers/participants to be announced soon. 

The Reykjavík capital area transport treaty - Working together for a future plan  

Transportation systems are the backbone of urban society. In this session the transport treaty in Reykjavík capital area will be presented and discussed in its wide approach. The treaty provides a holistic approach in transport planning which also gives an opportunity to a shared vision for the urban plan for all six municipalities that form the capital area. The treaty was signed in 2019 and was a milestone in co-operation and creation of a sustainable future.

The aim of the treaty is to increase traffic safety, improve transport for all modes of transport and reduce delays. One must increase the attractiveness and supply of sustainable modes of transport in particular, connect the transport systems better and reduce particle pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases. Good, safe trunk roads must be built, a network of cycle and footpaths that link municipalities and districts together will be established, and work is being done to organize the "Borgarlinan" BRT, which also includes an interesting bridge project, Alda bridge, for public transport, cycling and walking.

The session will start with a general introduction to the transport treaty and be followed with a more specific lectures on different areas of the agreement:

1.                   Primary road projects

2.                   Borgarlína – Bus Rapid Transit system and the bridge Alda

3.                   Planning for bicycles in the capital area

Speakers: Bryndís Friðriksdóttir, Kristján Árni Kristjánsson and Katrín Halldórsdóttir, The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration. Mores speakers to be announced soon.

The nature near the roads can serve as green corridors in the often intensively used landscape, which leaves no room for wild animals and plants. These green corridors can have a function as green corridors which connect otherwise isolated nature areas and forests.

This is the first out of two sessions on vegetation covered road verges. The second part starts after the coffee break in the same room. The sessions will shed light on modern “high-tech” and “low- tech” road maintenance.

The topics below will be discussed during the first session:

• The use of artificial intelligence (AI) for monitoring and fighting invasive alien plantspecies 
• A collaboration between a research research institute (VTI) and Volvo to develop driver warning technology to prevent wildlife-vehicle-collisions. VTI and Volvo are now doing pre-studies and exploring synergies between infrastructure and vehicles
• Bumblebee queen mortality along roads increase with traffic 

Moderator and speakers to be announced soon.

Resp. Christina Steenbeck, Danish Road Directorate

This session presents best practices in winter maintenance on cycle lanes in big cities and the countryside. The session will also present a Nordic research project on “Winter Road Intelligence Provision”. The findings from this project are relevant for winter maintenance on roads and cycle lanes.

Session topics:

• Winter maintenance on cycle lanes in big cities. How to plan for winter maintenance in a city like Copenhagen with the residents’ extensive use of cycling for transportation also in wintertime: cycling volumes, expectations, budget, quality requirements, digitalisation
• Winter maintenance of cycle lanes in rural areas and small cities in Finland. How to manage winter maintenance with limited possibilities of road weather systems and stations? Ideas for snow removal timing, methods, and equipment with limited budget.
• A Nordic research project presents their research on innovative “Winter Road intelligence Provision”. Utilising data and new methodology and maintenance decisions systems in winter maintenance. Best practices and recommendations

Moderator: Otto Kärki, Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency

Speakers: Torbjörn Häggquist, Rauno Kuusela, Lars Forslöf, Swedish Transport Administration

Environmental pollution is a major problem in many countries. The road construction industry has been searching, for years, for methods and practices to cut the amount of energy required to produce hot mix asphalts (HMA) and other road materials. A key player in the search for more sustainable road materials is the tool "Life Cycle Assessment" (LCA) and the use of recycled materials which can protect the environment and minimize the consumption of original resources.

The following topics will be discussed and presented:

• The use of the tool "InfraLCA" in projects
• Bitumen stabilized material – BSM
• Recycled asphalt – KFA
• Plastic Roads
• Alternative road construction materials
• Low Temperature Asphalt (LTA)
• Asphalt Pavement Recycling, the use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP)

Resp: Tatek Yiditi, Norwegian Public Roads Administration, and Henrik Bjurström, VTI

Speakers: Christian Axelsen, Danish Road Directorate. More speakers to be announced soon.

This session tells the story of how to procure and implement an asset management system for road maintenance and operations. The moderator of this session will lead you on a voyage which takes off in Denmark where you’ll hear about the Danish Road Directorate's optimization endeavors and how they formulated a strategy for asset management. Then on to the next part of the journey: How to develop and implement an IT-system to support the strategic goals and the asset management processes. The next part of the journey will take us to Norway where we’ll explore the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s asset management strategy and IT-system procurement.

The fourth and final part of the journey deals with the use of the Asset Management systems and the preliminary experiences in Denmark and Norway.

Bring your own experiences and examples for an active session on asset management!

Moderator:  Silas Nørager, Danish Road Directorate

Speakers:

Michael Ebbesen, Danish Road Directorate

Lilian Wester-Andersen, Danish Road Directorate

Siri Hustad, The Norwegian Public Roads Administration

Kari Aamot, The Norwegian Public Roads Administration

In Denmark as in many other countries, 85% of the area is used for agriculture, forestry and infrastructure. Lack of space and too high a nutrient load are among the most important reasons for the decline of species in Denmark.

The Danish Road Directorate owns areas of a type and quantity that provide great opportunities for nature near roads to contribute to supporting biodiversity. This is because the areas near the roads often are comparable to the nature type grassland, which is one of the most species-rich nature types, and at the same time a nature type that is declining in Denmark.

The most species-rich nature type in Denmark is the forests. Here too, biodiversity is generally low. The Road Directorate can support improvements on its wooded areas.

The nature near the roads can serve as green corridors in the often intensively used landscape, whiclh leaves no room for wild animals and plants. These green corridors can have a function as green corridors which connect otherwise isolated nature areas and forests.

In this part of the session, you’ll hear about:

• Road verges are corridors and roads are barriers for the movement of flower-visiting insects
• The use of Rhinantus (yellow rattle) as a tool to reduce production of biomass from grasses 
• Hazel dormouse in roadside habitats: From decline to progress, how the road may become a green corridor for migration instead of a barrier 
• Species-rich road verges on E-45 – Vejle-Skanderborg

Speakers and moderator to be announced soon.

Resp: Christina Steenbeck, Danish Road Directorate

In this session we will discuss the impact of tyres on traffic safety and mobility, road surface maintenance, and quality and noise.

We start the session with an introduction to the subject and we continue with a panel discussion between professionals within the field, all contributing with their different perspective on this subject. 

• Moderator Anne Eriksson, Chair of NVF's working group on Road Safety, Danish Road Directorate
• Introducer to the subject by Mattias Hjort, Senior Research Leader at VTI, Sweden

Expert panel:

• Karl Idar Gjerstad, Research leader for project NorDust Nordic Road Dust Research Project 2, Norwegian Public Roads Administration
• Peter Dyrelund, Car inspector, member of Danish Accident Investigation Board
• Tatek Fekadu Yideti, Chair of NVF's working group on  Road Technology, Danish Road Directorate

Can we still build new bridges considering the consequence the material production has on our planet?

Session topics:

• New technologies for optimizing and improving the material efficiency in bridge engineering
• Sustainable alternatives to our current way of producing steel and concrete
• How to challenge the EUROCODES for the purpose of reducing the carbon footprint.

 Moderator: Gudmundur V.Gudmundsson, The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration

Speakers:

Magnus Arason, Efla

Hans Henrik Ebsen Christensen, Rambøll

Christian Munch Petersen, Emcon

More speakers to be announced soon.

The Nordic countries are among the best in the world when it comes to road safety. But we can still learn and improve. All the Nordic countries have accident investigation teams for in-dephts analysis of traffic accidents. This session will present some of their most recent investigation methods and findings and discuss the advantages of in-depht analysis.

Investigation and technology:

• Pilot study on use of in-vehicle data in accident analysis
• Use of drone photogrammetry/camera solutions
• New accident reconstruction

The session will also shed light on concrete findings that have improved traffic safety:

• Children’s safety (a case from Finland)
• Improved bridge construction (a case from Norway

- Safety for bus drivers (a case from Norway)  

Moderators: Anne Eriksson and Morten Klintø, Danish Road Directorate

Speakers to be announced soon.

Road procurement in the Nordics is in the forefront internationally in taking new, more cooperative and relational contracting models into use. This session will describe what is happening in the Nordic countries today and what is developing in each country.

- Relational contracting and other new procurement trends, new procurement models taken into use or being piloted – best practices, experiences so far

- Early contractor involvement (ECI)

- Integrated project deliveries (IPD); alliancing

- Best Value Procurement (BVP)

- Future focus areas in investments and strategies for procurement; the future plans of all Nordic countries.

- Reflections by a panel with clients, contractors and designers on the above

Moderator: Peter Molin, Rambøll Finland

Speakers to be announced soon.

The technical development regarding driver assistance and self-driving vehicles is progressing rapidly. The development of the physical design of roads and streets does not keep up with that pace, and roads are expected to last for many years.

This session will discuss the design implications of automated driving.

Will autonomous driving change the way we design roads, and what are the future requirements for the state road infrastructure?

In this session we will discuss:

- Will the national road infrastructure meet the requirements, and what needs to be done on the existing road infrastructure.

-Will automated driving impact our road maintenance strategies?

- Which alternative technical solutions can supplement or replace parts of today's road infrastructure?

A panel will discuss and share information on possible future road design practices with an eye to findings from:

- A European project on the design requirements of the evolving connected and automated driving

- A report from a Swedish governmental asignment on automated driving and road design

- A Nordic research project on automated vehicles and road markings

Moderator: Kenny Dolleris, Swedish Transport Administration

Speakers and panel:

Ane Dalsnes Storsaeter, Q-Free, Kelly Pitera NTNU, Kenny Dolleris, Swedish Transport Administration