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The  FEHRL's successful presence at the 90th Annual Transportation Research Board meeting included several sessions and meetings supplemented by an exhibition stand.

The 2nd SHRP2/FEHRL International Symposium on Durable and Innovative Bridges held on Saturday 22nd was for SHRP 2 and European (FEHRL) researchers to report on the status of their ongoing research, and for them to seek comments and advice from the bridge and structures community. This should further enhance the success of these projects and improve thequality of their results. Others, such as the Long Term Bridge Performance Program (FHWA) as well as other international partners, will also be invited to present and participate.  It was sponsored by theTRB committees Design and Construction (AF000), Steel Bridges (AFF20), Concrete Bridges(AFF30), and SHRP 2 Technical Coordinating Committee for Renewal Research (FB000).  Eugene O'Brien of UC Dublin was the main organiser for the FEHRL side and presentations are listed below.

On Sunday afternoon,  the Danish Road Institute organised a session: Implementing Noise-Reducing Pavement Research, an International Perspective: Making Pavement Research Results Work in Practice.  The workshop provided an overview of new noise-reducing pavements now available in the United States and Europe. Noise-reducing pavement construction techniques, procurement, and implementation strategies as well as lessons learned were presented by researchers from the U.S., Denmark, and the Netherlands. This was followed by a session on International Collaboration: The Why and How to Achieve Results hosted by Debra Elston (FHWA) and was a “how-to” workshop focused on best practices for working together more effectively among international partners. Roles of state departments of transportation in the U.S., federal agencies, professional associations, European transport authorities, and TRB were examined. The workshop presented lessons learned and tools (e.g., collaborative agreements, programme management structures, and joint funding mechanisms) for collaboration on projects from inception to implementation.

Sunday afternoon also saw the opening of the FEHRL Exhibition Booth.  The focus of the display was Forever Open Road and the booth was located adjancent to FHWA's Every Day Counts stand.  FEHRL's booth hosted dozens on visitors over the two and half days the exhibition was over. It also served as a convenient meeting point for the many FEHRL participants.

On Monday,  Steve Phillips presented an overview of the September 2010 US Scanning Tour to the Conduct of Resarch Committee.  The tour was organised by FEHRL for the partners in the DETRA project (ECTRI and EURNEX) and considered the issue of research infrastructures.

FHWA kindly hosted a FEHRL lunch for US, European and other international guests.  The discussions over lunch were focused on the issue of getting research into practise (or implementing innovation). The lunch was joined by Victor Mendez the Administrator of FHWA as well as representatives of the EC, CEDR and ECTRI and followed by a meeting of FEHRL delegates which focused on speciifc issues of US-EU and other international projects.

Unfortunately a tour of Turner-Fairbanks Highway Research Centre was cancelled later in the week because of the heavy snow that affected the Washington area and delayed the travels of many people.

The TRB meeting has provided a positive start to FEHRL's activities for 2011.

FEHRL Presentations at 2nd SHRP2/FEHRL International Symposium on Durable and Innovative Bridges

• Probabilistic bridge safety assessment incorporating WIM and structural health monitoring data (Alan O’Connor, Trinity College Dublin)
• Effect of premature deterioration of expansion joints and bearings on durability of bridges (Lojze Bevc,ZAG, Slovenia)
• Towards an automated bridge inspection system for UK highways (Brian Ferne, Transport Research Laboratory, United Kingdom)
• Structural health monitoring of bridge structures (Monssef Drissi Habti, IFSTTAR,  France)
• Preliminary investigations for a European bridge formula and some improvement of the US bridgeformula (Bernard Jacob, Maryam Moshiri, Franziska Schmidt IFSTTAR, France )

FEHRL presentations at Implementing Noise-Reducing Pavement Research, an International Perspective: Making PavementResearch Results Work in Practice

• Introduction and Perspective (Ahé, Gert - Danish Road Directorate)
• Pavement Solutions: Thin Layers in Europe (Kragh, Jorgen - Danish Road Institute)
  Pavement Solutions: Porous Asphalt in the Netherlands (Hofman, Robert, DVS, Netherlands
• Noise Prediction and Noise Labeling of Pavements: Denmark Experience (Kragh, Jorgen - Danish Road Institute)
• Noise Prediction and Noise Labeling of Pavements: Netherlands Experience (Hofman, Robert DVS,Netherlands)
• Policy Aspects of Noise Reductions: United States (Ferroni, Mark Anthony - Federal Highway Administration)
• Policies and Strategies for Use of Noise-Reducing Pavements: Netherlands (Hofman, Robert - DVS, Netherlands)
• Policies and Strategies for Use of Noise-Reducing Pavements: Denmark (Bendtsen, Hans - Danish Road Institute)
• Technical Issues: In Search of the -10-dB Pavement (Kragh, Jorgen - Danish Road Institute)

International Collaboration: The Why and How to Achieve Results

• Why Use International Collaboration as Part of a Research Program: Benefits and Value (Elston, Debra S. - Federal Highway Administration)
• Need and Perspectives of International Research Cooperation (Jacobsen, Per - Danish Road Directorate)
• International Collaboration Benefits and Value (Al, Joris, Rijkwaterstaat and FEHRL President) 
• Examples of Successful Collaborations: Noise Research in Denmark and California (Bendtsen, Hans - Danish Road Institute)

Comments: FEHRL at TRB 2011