The project TYROSAFE (Tyre and Road surface Optimisation for Skid resistance And Further Effects) is a Coordination and Support Action funded by the European Seventh Framework Programme. The project has addressed the lack of awareness of the importance and contribution of skidding resistance to safety, the lack of harmonised systems for comparing skidding resistance (even within member states), and the concern over conflicts with other important characteristics of road surfaces. The project, which began in July 2008 and runs to July 2010, was carried out by a consortium comprising AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology), BASt from Germany, LCPC from France, RWS from the Netherlands, TRL from the United Kingdom, ZAG from Slovenia and FEHRL, the Forum of European Highway Research Laboratories based in Belgium.
The project had four technical work packages (WP1-WP4); a fifth work package, WP5 had the main objective of raising awareness, among stakeholders, experts and the wider public, of the essential tyre/road interaction parameters (skid resistance, rolling resistance, noise) and their impact on road safety, CO2 output and noise emission. This report, draws on the detailed reports of the other work packages, to summarise the follow-up research, dissemination and implementation activities necessary for further progress towards the long-term objectives of increasing road safety and reducing environmental impact.
The implementation of both the recommended harmonization efforts and research proposals will require substantial consideration and planning. Reaching those objectives requires a strategic approach. Three key strategic components are: the development of policies and standards at European level to improve the quality of road surfaces; provision of measurement tools to enable consistent assessment of road surfaces and tyres; material specifications to set the basic requirements for road surfaces and tyres.
A significant strategic proposal from the project is the importance of developing consistent policies for the management of skid resistance, rolling resistance and noise at the EU level, with local application in individual Member States. These should be supported by consistent measurement techniques for monitoring the road network and, for skid resistance in particular, the current situation of over 20 different devices providing results that cannot be compared directly needs to be replaced by a harmonised approach that allows the results to be compared on a Common Scale. To this end, TYROSAFE has prepared a Road Map offering different routes to achieving this outcome.
Underpinning the three strategic components will be a number of research activities and TYROSAFE has set out proposals for these, directed towards supporting policies, enabling optimisation of road surfaces and tyres while reducing environmental impact and anticipating the effects of climate change.
The proposals range from major tasks of strategic importance to areas that will increase scientific knowledge but are of longer-term interest and application. It is important to recognise that within these research suggestions there are inter-dependent or complementary ideas that could potentially take some 10 years to deliver in various stages.
The most significant proposal is the need to increase understanding of the combined influence of texture of roads and tyres in the tyre/road interface, including the development of alternative measurement techniques and parameters to those currently used which limit what can be studied at present. Understanding texture is essential to carry forward the ideas for harmonisation and optimisation of all three properties (skid resistance rolling resistance and noise) addressed by TYROSAFE.
Carrying out the research and implementing its findings will be heavily dependent on appropriate support and sponsorship at a European level, especially from road administrations. Greater co-operation between researchers in the various components of the road and tyre industries will be important; boundary conditions for the implementation of the further research have been discussed.
A dissemination plan was set out at the start of the project and this has been followed throughout the two year programme. Consequently, the results of the project have been widely disseminated, through a range of channels including the project website, expert workshops, conference presentations, magazine articles and videos. Efforts to use the information will continue through the project partners as they engage in future research, policy and standardisation activities.
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created: Marco Conter, 14.07.2010 16:42:32 last modified: Marco Conter, 14.07.2010 16:58:09
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