World Road Association

About the World Road Association

The World Road Association (PIARC) is an international road organisation based in Paris, France. It has 118 national of federal government members, 2000 collective or individual members in 142 countries and over 650 experts in 17 standing technical committees. The Association deals primarily in issues of road infrastructure planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation. These relate to the main areas of work which the Association has identified. The work of the Association is undertaken by technical committees which are comprised of representatives from member countries and organistions.

Founded in 1909, the Association is a major international forum which plays a leading role to bring together the international road community to exchange knowledge and techniques on roads and road related transport. Australia has been an active member of the Association for many years and continues to contribute with enthusiasm. For more information about the Association visit the website at: www.piarc.org/en/.

XXIV World Road Congress - Mexico City 2011

The World Road Association is holding its next World Road Congress in Mexico City. Held every four years since 1908, the event invites professionals of roads and transportation to present and dicuss key topics between member countries as well as taking the opportunity to identify, develop and share responsible solutions for today's problems.

The World Road Congress is on from 26-30 September 2011. The theme of the congress is MOBILITY,SUSTAINABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT.

More information is available from: www.aipcrmexico2011.org

XXIV World Road Congress Mexico 2011 Essay Competitions

World Road Association Essay competition

The World Road Association (WRA) is conducting an international essay competition in conjunction with the Mexico Congress 2011. Instead of being a separate process like in the past, the prizes will be awarded to the best papers submitted to the Congress itself.

The call for individual papers was made in April 2010 and the WRA technical committees will select those to be invited to prepare full papers from the abstracts received. The technical committees will also recommend the best papers submitted to an International Jury which will determine the prize winners. Prizes in the international competition will be awarded to the best paper in each of seven categories: Young professionals (all authors less than 30 years of age), developing countries (authors from countries of low and lower-middle income), best innovation (Maurice Milne medal), safety of road users and road workers, sustainable development and two prizes for outstanding papers addressing other issues.

For each paper selected for a prize, the WRA will pay travel and accommodation expenses and the fees of the Congress for one of the co-authors of the paper. Each prize is sponsored by a member country with Austroads sponsoring the Safety prize at the Mexico Congress.
All abstracts must be submitted before the deadline of 30 September 2010.

For more information, or to submit an abstract online, visit www.aipcrmexico2011.org.

The call for papers document can be found here: http://www.aipcrmexico2011.org/images/stories/ponencias/Callforpapers-Prizes-2010.pdf

Austroads Essay Competition

Austroads is also running a competition for young professionals who work for an Austroads member or observer organisation in conjunction with the international competition. It will parallel the international competition but Austroads can invite papers from any abstracts submitted from Australia or New Zealand in addition to those selected by technical committees. An Austroads judging panel will judge the papers employing the same criteria as the International Jury.

Entry to this competition is the same as for the WRA essay competition. The WRA will inform Austroads of all entries from Australian and New Zealand member and observer organisations and therefore will be entered into both competitions. As such the rules are the same as the WRA competition rules. All the essays have to fit into one of the topics from the WRA competition.

The only difference is eligibility as for the Austroads competition, as authors must be under the age of 30 (at 31 August 2010) and must work for an Austroads member or observer organisation. A maximum of four authors may contribute to a paper and there will be one prize awarded from any topic. The prize is paid airfare, accommodation and Congress registration for one of the co-authors to attend the Mexico Congress. The winning paper may also be submitted by Austroads to the International Jury for consideration.