Exchange of experience for the 10th time in Darmstadt

From September 18th to 19th 2017, the HELLER Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH arranged the 10th exchange of experience on "Pavement Condition Survey and Assessment and Maintenance Management“ in Darmstadt. 80 participants from Germany, Austria, Poland and Portugal used the opportunity to exchange about current topics and trends in pavement condition survey and assessment as well as maintenance management. This year, the event set a focus on Asset Management, which became increasingly important in the road sector.

The 10th exchange of experience „Pavement condition survey and assessment and maintenance management“ took place from September 18th to 19th, 2017 in Darmstadt. The asset management as main topic was highlighted and the new panel discussion at the end of the first day enabled a different view for the participants to this young discipline.

Panel discussion completed the first day

HELLER was able to win renowned representatives of ministries, regional authorities and districts as well as from abroad for interesting presentations and contributions. Dr. Slawomir Heller, owner of HELLER, opened the event with an introduction to Asset Management. The new discipline offers new approaches for integrated solutions in maintenance planning and is being appreciated more and more even in Germany and Austria. Dr. Jürgen Krieger of the Federal Highway Research Institue (BASt), Christian Honeger from the Austrian ASFINAG Servicegesellschaft and Roland Degelmann from the Supreme Building Authority in the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Transport, reported for example about experiences, developments and success with Asset Management in their organizations. Another highlight was the field report of Christian Böker from the district of Viersen about the first certification in Germany in the road sector according to ISO 55000.

In the evening, a new topic was part of the agenda: a panel discussion under the guidance of Prof. Markus Stöckner, prorector at the University of Karlsruhe. The experts Michael Korn (Alfen Consult GmbH), Dr. Jürgen Krieger, Roland Degelmann, Christian Honeger und Dr. Slawomir Heller discussed the necessity of Asset Management in the road sector and talked about the future orientation of this new discipline. The participants followed this discussion with great interest.

Exchange of experience is looking beyond horizons

On the next day, Michael Korn spoke about the basis for a strategical redirection in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte as the district with the biggest area in Germany. He provided a comprehensive insight into future-oriented approaches in maintenance management. Rupert Schmerbeck from the Highway Authority in the South of Bavaria gave a lecture on „RPE-Stra“, a guideline for the planning of maintenance measures, which was launched in 2001 and is currently in revision. The aim is to establish the maintenance planning according to "RPE-Stra" as a tool in Asset Management. Prof. J. Stefan Bald from the Technical University in Darmstadt paid attention to a goal-oriented information management in the national road authorities. He figured out that the right amount of decentralization and centralization in management systems is essential for their success. The presentation of Klaus Albrecht from the Lower Saxon authority for road building and traffic on the organization of announcements and contractual basis in the pavement condition survey and assessment appealed to the participants.

These and further presentations offered the participants a wide range of current topics and obtained an active exchange among each other. Dr. Slawomir Heller summarized both days at the end and was glad about the high reception from the guests: „The exchange of experience is and stays an event which looks beyond horizons and the particpants can gain new knowledge and approaches into their organizations.“

HELLER Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH thanks all speakers for the excellent presentations and all participants for the interesting discussions afterwards, which made the exchange of experience in 2017 a great success again.