Sweden Has One of the Biggest Reductions in Car Occupant Deaths

Posted on July 20, 2014 by nradmin

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) presents reports covering trends in car occupant safety twice a year, where 32 countries in and around Europe contribute with data for comparison. Two of the facts highlighted in this report is that seat-belt reminder alerts in all car seats could save...

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The Sunshine Tunnel – Routing Sunlight into Tunnels with the Help of Photovoltaic Panels

Posted on May 7, 2014 by nradmin

Most tunnels rely on a complex web of power cables feeding electricity from distant energy sources to power light fixtures mounted in the ceiling. At the same time the tunnels are surrounded by daylight. A new pilot project at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) aims to challenge this...

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Environmentally Friendly Cement Free Binder Made from Volcanic Ash

Posted on April 23, 2014 by nradmin

Concrete is the most produced material in the world to date, with around 23 billion metric tons being produced annually. Although concrete itself does not have a large carbon footprint per unit volume, this massive production means that it is a huge contributor to the total carbon emissions due...

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Criteria for Closing Mountain Passes Based on Friction Measurement and Crosswind

Posted on April 7, 2014 by nradmin

In 2006 there was a bus accident on a mountain pass in Norway called Dovrefjell. There was strong wind combined with ice covered road. As a result of this very strong crosswind and the slippery conditions the bus lost the grip on the front wheels and the driver couldn’t control the bus. The bus...

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Reforms in Vehicle Registration Tax Can Reduce CO2-emissions

Posted on April 7, 2014 by nradmin

The Norwegian Parliaments target to reduce new passenger vehicles average CO2-emission to 85 g/km (type-approval value) in 2020, can be achieved by reforms in the vehicle registration tax. In three out of four scenarios, described in this report from Institute of Transport Economics, the target...

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Improving Infrastructure to Withstand Natural Hazards – a Major R&D Project for a Safer Society

Posted on April 7, 2014 by nradmin

Natural hazards – infrastructure for floods and slides (NIFS) is a multi-disciplinary project based on Report no. 15 to the Storting15 (2011-2012) entitled How to live with the risks –about floods and slides, and the subsequent parliamentary debate. The Norwegian National Rail Administration...

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Potholes – Annoying Problem for Road Users and Road Administrations

Posted on April 7, 2014 by nradmin

The winter 2013/2014 has in Denmark been reasonably mild, but normally it has been high season for a special kind of damage to our roads – Potholes. In places where the pavement conditions are not optimal and the climate during wintertime provides wet conditions and freeze-thaw cycling potholes...

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“BEST” – a Programme for Improved Traffic Safety

Posted on April 7, 2014 by nradmin

In 2013, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration initiated a five-year research programme called “BEST” (“Bedre Sikkerhet i Trafikken” , literally “Better Safety in Traffic”). The main purpose of this programme is to generate knowledge that may be of crucial importance when it comes...

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Models for Creating Sustainable Roads

Posted on March 12, 2014 by nradmin

VTI uses the PEDRO* calculation model and a number of different variables to calculate road degradation and examine how deformations in asphalt arise. Goods vehicles and heavy vehicles contribute greatly to the formation of ruts (longitudinal deformations) and ridges (transverse deformations) in...

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Experts Preparing Roads for Extreme Weather

Posted on February 24, 2014 by nradmin

Experts from several road laboratories in Europe, including the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), have been working together for some time to ensure that Europe's roads will be better equipped to withstand extreme weather conditions. The European road system must be...

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