Engineers from around the country will be considering the resilience of our road network in Bristol on 29 September by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

The conference will take a critical look at the highway infrastructure for the south west and examine what happens when the system is compromised. It will examine the impact of issues and potential incidents on the system, ranging from severe weather episodes to accidents, looking at alternatives and possible solutions.

It will also consider the relationship between the road network and the region’s economy, looking at the need to ensure reliable and safe routes to facilitate trade and commuting whilst taking account of community requirements.  This will be all the more important in light of the recent Government announcement aiming for transport consortiums involving local enterprise partnerships as well as statutory authorities and other organisations. Jeremy Filmer Bennett from the Heart of the South West local enterprise partnership will be putting the case for more roads to facilitate economic growth and create a more secure transport infrastructure.

Other speakers include the past regional chair of ICE, Nick Lyness, who will talk about the issues of flooding and coastal erosion on the region, with Paul Davies from the Met Office considering the effect of changing weather patterns.

Devon County Council’s head of highways, Lester Wilmington and Peter Binley from Wiltshire County Council will be covering the dreaded subject of potholes as well as the local government approach to protecting and maintaining the region’s extensive road network.

Finally, Bill Billington from the RAC and Howard Owen from the Highways Agency will be appraising the national picture including the perspective of road users.

Regional Director for ICE, Trish Johnston said: “ We tend to take our roads for granted –roadworks and summer tourist traffic can cause occasional delays but we are used to getting from A to B reliably and smoothly. But being on a peninsula means that any incident on the highways network can have a much greater and disproportionate impact. An accident on the M5 at Taunton can strand Devon and Cornwall and this has obvious economic consequences.

“We have seen how severe weather can hamper our network with the snows of 2009 and 2010, which isolated many communities and caused heavy disruption to supplies and business. As engineers, it’s important that we consider these aspects and try to cater for as many eventualities as possible, to ensure there is contingency planning and make the network as resilient as we can.

“It is an interesting and challenging subject that will provoke a lot of debate. With many cuts being proposed to transport and highways budgets and critical infrastructure under pressure, it is a timely discussion, which could provide some useful solutions and bring focus to our priorities for the south west.”

Jeremy Filmer Bennett, chair of the steering committee for the LEP said: “We have one of the largest transport networks of any region – Devon has over 10,000 miles of roads which is far more than any other county. This requires a lot of maintenance to keep traffic flowing smoothly and reliably, which is vital for business and economic growth. Accidents cost our economy hundreds of thousands of pounds each year through injury, time off work and delays to supplies impacting on productivity.

“Developing a resilient infrastructure is fundamental to our ability to compete on a regional, national and international level. It underpins our economy so we need to ensure that investment is targeted in the most appropriate way.“

More details about the conference including the booking arrangements are available from Charlotte Snooks on 01752 766239 or by email: charlotte.snooks@ice.org.uk.

ENDS