Stakeholder engagement

The Asphalt Industry Alliance organises a free, interactive, annual Sharing Best Practice event, aimed at local authority highway engineers. Its representatives also regularly attend and speak at a large range of industry conferences.

Sharing Best Practice - Thursday 21 October 2021

Our Sharing Best Practice event will again be held online using virtual conferencing software. Spaces are limited, so we recommend confirming your interest at the earliest opportunity by emailing: info@asphaltuk.org

Sharing Best Practice is a free, annual event, hosted by the AIA, aimed at local authority highway engineers. The day’s agenda includes speakers covering a range of pertinent topics highlighting sector innovation, local authority case studies and updates on materials development.

For information on last year’s Sharing Best Practice, including the speakers’ downloadable presentation, please see below.

Sharing Best Practice - Wednesday 14th October 2020

This year Sharing Best Practice was held online, with 120+ delegates from over 70 local authorities joining the virtual event. Baroness Vere, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport (with responsibility for roads and motoring, buses and taxis, devolution, housing and light rail) gave the opening address in which she acknowledged that those in the highway sector had been the ‘hidden heroes’ of the Covid-19 pandemic – working unstintingly to keep networks functioning safely.

The first session examined policy evolution, against the backdrop of increased emphasis on active travel and changing user expectations. Speakers included both the RAC and Cycling UK outlining the views of their respective memberships as well as an overview from the AIA on 25 years of ALARM reports. The second session showcased some local authority approaches to achieve more sustainable highways, plus information on an industry-led research project on protocols to use when assessing innovative paving materials.

Feedback was positive, with 80% of local authority delegates ranking the half-day event as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’. Our speakers have kindly made their presentations available and these can be downloaded below:

25 Years of the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey and the ongoing impact of a stop/start approach to funding on our local roads David Giles, UK General Manager, Eurobitume and Director, Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA)

RAC – motorists’ view on local road conditions Nicholas Lyes, Head of Roads Policy and Public Affairs Lead, RAC

Cycling UK’s view of ALARM/upsurge in cycling/call for roads to be repaired Duncan Dollimore, Head of Campaigns and Advocacy, Cycling UK

Active travel within the overall sense of place Mark Stevens, Assistant Director Operational Highways, Suffolk County Council/ADEPT

Dorset Council’s approach to recycling Dave Blackburn, Waste and Recycling Manager Highways, Dorset Council

Use of recycled asphalt planings* Dan Perks, Operations Manager – City Highways, Westminster City Council

Collaborative research project – HE, MPA and Eurobitume: Filtering protocol for innovative paving materials including waste derived materials Malcolm Simms, Director, MPA Asphalt, Mineral Products Association and Director, Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) and Helena Lacelle, Principal Engineer, Pavement Design and Asset Management, Transportation, AECOM

Asset management 10 years on: The Right Investment in Lewisham, part of the South London Asset Management Consortium Tom Henry, Highways Manager, London Borough of Lewisham and Herbert Micallef, Director, Highways and Infrastructure, Metis Consultants Ltd

* Unfortunately, due to technical issues Dan Perks was unable to join the event remotely. A feature covering the content of his presentation will appear in the next issue of Asphalt Now

For details of presentations at previous years’ Sharing Best Practice events, please email: info@asphaltuk.org