Message from the President
A happy new year to all our members.
2020 promises to be an exciting year and I’m looking forward to working with you all – as individuals and institutional members. The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.
As REAAA members we are proud to be the most effective regional organisation providing members with technology interchange and transfer and services to promote a better future in road-related engineering.
I’m very proud to be in the privileged position to lead REAAA in this important task and in continuing the excellent outcomes of previous Presidents. Expanding on this willingness and helping more institutional members and professionals to profit from it, is the challenge I’ve set myself.
110th & 111th REAAA Governing Council Meetings
The 110th and 111th REAAA Governing Council meetings and related events were successfully held on 9th-12th April, 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan, and on 4th– 5th October in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates respectively.
The 111th Governing Council meeting and the 17th Young Engineers and Professionals (YEP) meeting were held on 5th October during the 26th PIARC World Road Congress, the very first meeting to be held in the Middle East. The President, Mr Romeo Momo, Council members and representatives from member countries were welcomed by Mr Claude van Rooten, the President of PIARC and Mr Ahmed Alhammadi of the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport.
The 26th World Road Congress in Abu Dhabi
The 26th World Road Congress was successfully held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 6th– 10th October 2019 under the theme of “Connecting Cultures-Enabling Economies”. The Congress was organized by the Department of Transport of the Abu Dhabi Emirates in partnership with World Road Association (PIARC). With 43 ministers and more than 5,200 delegates from 144 countries, the Congress offered a unique program where all modes of transport were represented.
Interview with Organizers
Hyunseok Kim, Technical Advisor of PIARC
Mr Hyunseok Kim, Technical Advisor of PIARC, coordinated various meetings and events during the recent World Road Congress in Abu Dhabi, including the REAAA Council and YEP meetings. Right after his trip to Abu Dhabi, the Newsletter team asked him about his experiences with the Congress this time.
Richard Moh and Yu-Min Su, the 110th REAAA Council Meeting Organizing Committee
Richard: I am currently the Executive Senior Vice President and Special Assistant to the Chairperson of Moh and Associates, Inc., a member of MAA Group Consulting Engineers. Established in 1975, MAA Group is a multi-disciplinary consulting group of companies. It employs 1,200 engineers and architects and has offices in ten cities in east and south-east Asia. In recent years, I have been involved in various professional societies, including establishing Young Engineer Committees in the 108 years old Chinese Institute of Engineers and the Chinese Association of Engineering Consultants. I was also a founding member of the Youth Talent Development Working Group in the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP). In addition, I am a Director and committee chair for various other professional societies, including the International Affairs Committee of the China Road Federation (CRF), which is one of the earliest members of REAAA, joining in 1973.
Yu-Min: I have been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, since 2014. I received my PhD degree from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Florida in 2012. I was awarded an International Road Federation (IRF) Fellowship in 2009. I am the sector coordinator for the IRF, a member of the Technical and YEP committees of REAAA, a member of the program committee of the SPIE smart structures and nondestructive evaluation conference, and a board of director for the CRF. My research interests include highway and pavement engineering, asset management, and smart technologies and their applications.
110th REAAA Governing Council Meeting in Taipei
The 110th Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australia (REAAA) Governing Council Meeting was held at the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC) in Taipei, Taiwan from 9th–12th April, 2019. Over 150 delegates from over 10 countries attended this four-day event, which included the 7th Business Forum, the 15th Young Engineers & Professionals Meeting (YEP), the 110th Governing Council Meeting, a meeting of the Pavement Technology Committee (PTC), and a technical visit.
7th REAAA Business Forum
The REAAA Business Forum was established to facilitate business-to-business collaboration in road engineering or related topics and to enhance membership of REAAA by attracting business practitioners, institutions and private companies as well as government bodies.
The vision is “to be the center of information to support and facilitate collaboration among business entities in the road engineering industry in the region”. The mission is “to always encourage, facilitate and connect through business-to-business collaboration in road engineering-related industry, especially in the Asia and Australasian regions”.
REAAA Technical Committee
Pavement Technology Committee
Cooperation with the World Road Association (PIARC) has been a key strategic initiative of the REAAA Technical Committee for many years. Following discussions with PIARC and, in line with the establishment of a new REAAA Technical Committee for the current term (2017-2021), the following three areas of relevance to both REAAA and PIARC were identified as having the potential to be ‘mirror groups’ with the appropriate PIARC Committees:
- Pavement Technology
- Climate Change Management
- Road Safety.
The topic of pavement technology has been a major focus of both PIARC and the REAAA Technical Committee since its inception. During its first cycle from 2010 to 2013, REAAA Committee TC-2 addressed ‘Pavement durability’ and organized a workshop on that theme during the 14th REAAA Conference in Kuala Lumpur in March 2013. The Sub-committee published a compendium on the same topic (Technical Report TC-5) in July 2015.
Climate Change Resilience and Emergency Management Committee
‘Climate change resilience and emergency management’ is a major focus of the new REAAA Technical Committee – noting that this subject has not been previously addressed by REAAA. There are also clear connections between the Terms of Reference for the establishment of the REAAA Climate Change Resilience and Emergency Management and PIARC Committees TC.E.1 Adaptation Strategies and Resilience and TC.E.3 Disaster Management which operated under PIARC Strategic Theme E: Climate Change, Environment and Disasters in the previous PIARC term which concluded in October 2019. These Committees had strong representation from some key REAAA member countries.
Road Safety Committee
The REAAA Road Safety Committee held its first meeting on 5th October 2019 in Abu Dhabi, in conjunction with the 111th REAAA Governing Council Meeting and the PIARC World Road Congress 2019.
During the Governing Council Meeting, Dr Siti Zaharah, the Chairperson of the Road Safety Committee, reported on the issue of the poor response to date from participating countries in terms of nominations for membership of the Committee. It was decided to proceed with the meeting with representatives who were present. It was also agreed that nominations would be made immediately after the first meeting. Countries that agreed to participate were Malaysia, as the lead country, Australia, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan. The International Road Assessment Program (iRAP) also agreed to have a representative on the Committee.
REAAA Fellowship Program
At the 103rd REAAA Council meeting in Dubai in March 2016, it was agreed that REAAA would establish a Fellowship Program. The objective of the program is to provide financial support to REAAA members from developing countries to attend REAAA events as a speaker.
At the 111th REAAA Council meeting in Abu Dhabi, Council agreed to continue the Fellowship Program at the 8th REAAA Business Forum, to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in July 2020.
This event is tailored to meet the needs of young professionals in the road industry.
The benefits of the Fellowship Program include:
- Industry Development: Investment in the Fellowship Program provides a powerful stimulus for the advancement of the road industry in the region. Companies that compete for business in the region will be among the beneficiaries.
- Tomorrow’s leadership: An investment in the REAAA Fellowship Program ensures that the best and brightest professionals are supported in their ambitions to become tomorrow’s industry leaders.
- Corporate philanthropy: Many corporate leaders are motivated to support education as a long-term investment in human capital. Supporting the REAAA Fellowship Program provides opportunities to engage with employees while, at the same time, supporting a worthy cause.
- Networking potential: With rapid globalization, the world is getting smaller and companies need to think globally in terms of their responsibilities az tvnd opportunities. As a supporter of the REAAA Fellowship Program, companies have an opportunity to develop long-term personal and professional relationships with young industry professionals who will one day be key industry representatives.
PIARC International Seminar and Workshop on “Safer Roads by Infrastructure Design and Operation”
The International Seminar and Workshop on Safer Roads by Infrastructure Design and Operation was successfully held on 23rd – 25th April 2019 at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This seminar was hosted by the World Road Association (PIARC) in collaboration with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), through PIARC’s Technical Committee C2 ‘Design and Operation of Safer Road Infrastructure’.
The objectives of the Seminar were to promote the latest knowledge on current issues and facilitate technical discussions and debate among industry stakeholders especially related with road safety. The objectives of the Seminar were to promote the latest knowledge on current issues and facilitate technical discussions and debate among industry stakeholders especially related with road safety.
Sharing Knowledge, Experience, Friendship and More:
Korea’s Capacity Building Efforts to Grow Together
Mr Rafitra Razak and Ms Rosmawati Binti Hj Emran, the REAAA family from Brunei, visited Korea just before the completion of the country’s mega project, the construction of the Temburong Bridge. Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd, in cooperation with the Korea Expressway Corporation, invited them to interact with Korean experts on bridge operation and maintenance.
[Article]
Innovative Pothole Fixer – Asphalt Concrete Brick
Moisture susceptibility is a major issue pertaining to the use of hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements because the moisture can infiltrate and diffuse to the structure of the asphalt mix. The excessive moisture causes a decrease in the cohesive strength of the asphalt binder and loss of the adhesion bond between the aggregate and the binder.
Engineers and professionals in the Directorate of General Highways (DGH) of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication in Taiwan strive to mitigate hazards and improve safety for all road users by finding a better way to repair cracks and potholes effectively. As a result, a research project was commissioned in 2014 to examine the feasibility of utilizing innovative ‘Asphalt Concrete Bricks’ (ACB). The project involved both laboratory and field work.
The Construction of the First Elevated Toll Road in Eastern Indonesia
Indonesia is undergoing a rapid structural transformation, from a predominantly rural and agricultural economy to an urban and service-based economy. It is a significant structural shift. This shift creates a phenomenon called ‘urban sprawl’, which is related to the dynamic interaction between spatial planning and transport policy. This requires more attention from urban planners and related specialists because of its rapidly-growing scale and also because its effects are not always desirable.
The urban area in Indonesia is growing rapidly, not only in Java but also in the east of Indonesia. This rapid growth has created issues that require attention, including densely-populated areas, limited areas for development, and an increase in the middle-income population. As a result, spatial developments which are compatible with both land use and road transport needs have been undertaken, including, initially, a bypass and then ring and radial highways, initially at grade and then elevated urban toll roads such as in Makassar. The construction of the Pettarani Elevated Toll Road in Makassar, supported by the installation of a traffic information system, is essential to support traffic mobility and the economy of Metropolitan Mamminasata. It can become a future model for the development of urban transport infrastructure in Indonesia.
REAAA Welcomes New Members
The list of members approved at the 111th REAAA Governing Council Meeting on 5th October 2019 follows.
REAAA Newsletter
| Existing members as at 1st April 2019 | 1,442 |
| Add : Newly-elected/Status changed /Reinstated | 40 |
| Less : Resigned/Lost contact/Deceased/Suspended/Status changed | 29 |
| Total as at 31st August 2019 | 1,453 |
