Conference Programme

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Day 1 | Day 2

Day One: Wednesday 16th September 2009

08:30 Registration, Refreshments and Exhibition Viewing
09:55 Chair’s Introduction and Welcome
Roger Elphick, Consultant Former Acting Corporate Director – Environment
Durham County Council

State of Play: Winter Maintenance in 2009

10:00 Keynote Case Study
UK Roads Board Review of the Situation - January 2009
Matthew Lugg, Chair of the UK Roads Board
Leicestershire County Council
10:20 Lessons Learnt from Last Winter - the UK Roads Liaison Group Review
  • The issues and conditions that led to widespread salt shortages last winter
  • A review of the salt market and salt supply arrangements
  • A review of the national salt priority system introduced last winter
  • Recommendations
Mike Bordiss, Atkins Project Leader and Independent Consultant
10:40 UK Case Study: TFL
Andy Best
Transport for London
10:55 Case Study - Pass the Salt!
  • Planning for Winter
  • Historical Analysis
  • Contingency Measures
  • Intervention and Consequences
Jerry McConkey, Network Manager
Sefton MBC
11:10 Panel Debate 1: Winter 08/09 Regional Round Up
Morning Speakers
11:20 Morning Refreshments and Exhibition Viewing

Public Expectations Vs. Budgetary Realities

11:50 Winter Maintenance - Salt Stock Management and its Resilience
  • Look at our pre season winter preperations and how they impact on seasons events
  • Norfolk's Salt PFI - overview
  • Other factors that contributed to our overall resilience
  • National Salt Shortages - effects to deliver service
  • Post Shortage Review - attendance at local Eastern winter forum key points discussed
  • Conclusion
Tony Bemrose
Project Manager, Planning & Transportation Department
Norfolk County Council
12:10 The Public Perception of Winter Service
  • Effect of the recent winter on Public Perception
  • Getting information to the public
Derek Twigg, Network Manager (Acting), Network Managing Strategy
Hertfordshire Highways
12:30 Forecasting: The Challenge of Accuracy
  • How are road forecasts produced?
  • Improvements in accuracy - current and future
  • What do we mean by accuracy?
  • Conclusions
Julian Mayes
MeteoGroup
12:50 Panel Debate:
Message Received and Understood - Re-educating the Driver
  • Getting the right information to the public
  • Increased use of variable speed limits
  • The need for a National "Winter Aware" campaign?
13:10 Lunch and Exhibition Viewing
14:30 Afternoon Chair's Welcome
Matthew Lugg, Chair of the UK Roads Board
Leicestershire County Council

Elephant in the Room - Debating Drivers Hours

14:35 Panel Session: The Current Situation
  • Clearing the definitions - what is an emergency?
  • Budget constraints
  • Domestic or European Legislation

with

Mitch Elliott, Fleet Manager, Lincolnshire County Council
Ian Gallagher, Policy Manager, Freight Transport Association
Matt Thompson, Senior Traffic Examiner, VOSA
15:05 Defining "Reasonable Practise": A Case Study from West Sussex County Council
Andy Ekinsmyth
West Sussex County Council
15:25 Afternoon Refreshments and Exhibition Viewing

Route Based Forecasting - For and Against

15:55 Route Based Forecasting - Challenges and the Way Forward
  • Latest, ground breaking Met Office scientific developments
  • Route based visualisation - the future
  • Potential benefits of route based forecasting
  • Challenges
  • Key criteria to consider when deciding on route based forecasting
Aileen Semple, Road Business Manager
Met Office
16:15 Route Based Forecasting - the Scottish Experience
Andy Fraiser
Scotland TranServ
16:35 Audience Questions
17:00 The Cold Comfort 2009 Drinks Reception
On the Exhibition Floor
20:00 The Cold Comfort 2009 Gala Dinner
At the Bardd Suite, Cardiff Marriot Hotel

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Day Two: Thursday 17th September 2009

08:30 Registration, Refreshments and Exhibition Viewing
10:00 Chair's Introduction and Welcome
Paul Thomas, Principal Engineer, Highway Operations Highways and Waste Managment
Cardiff County Council

Treatments - Current Options and Future Technologies

10:05 Mixed Opinions - What the service providers think about Winter 2009
  • Views of council officers and salt suppliers
  • How big is the problem of getting enough salt?
  • Alternative solutions
Paul Brennan, Principal Advisor
APSE (Association of Public Service Excellence)
10:20 Case Study: All white on the Night - Meeting Unexpected Demands through Co-ordination
  • Winter of 08/09 - Managing the worst snow fall in Somerset for 27 years
  • Treatment issues highlighted in the synopsis
  • Co-ordination: Government Office of the South West etc
  • Looking ahead - increasing our own resilience and ability to provide mutual aid
Geoff Dight, Network Manager
Somerset County Council
and
Simon White, Network Contract Commission Manager
Atkins
10:40 Panel Debate: Stocks and Shares - Strategic Stocks
  • How would they work?
  • Who would fund them?
  • Contracts between contractors and Local Authorities
  • Min and Max Contracts
  • Maintaining resilience under the same budget
Gary Neiles
Salt Union
and
Martin Hobbs, Head of Winter Service Strategy
Highway Agency
and
Martin Low
President of The Local Government Technical Advisers Group (TAG)
Director of Transportation
Westminster City Council
and
Tony Bemrose
Norfolk County Council
11:20 Morning Refreshments and Exhibition Viewing

Method and Rates of Spread

11:50 Winter Maintenance, Future Proof & Combi Spreading Systems
Andrew Bunce
Bunce (Ashbury) Limited

Innovation : The Devil is in the Detail
Danny Johns
Vaisala Offering Manager Vaisala Ltd
12:40 German Case Study: A Scientific Exposition of the Benefits of Snow Clearing from all Highways - Motorways to Urban Roads
Emil Wasmer
Product Manager, Snow Clearing
Aebi Schmidt Holdings
13:00 Winter Maintenance of Bridges and other Highway Structures
Speaker to be announced
13:15 Lunch and Exhibition Viewing
14:30 Afternoon Chair's welcome
Martin Hobbs, Head of Winter Service Strategy
Highways Agency

Winter Maintenance Code of Practice

14:35 Route Prioritisation
Jim Knox
City of Glasgow Council
14:55 Presenting the NSSRG Research
Bob Collis
Divisional Director
TRL Infrastructure Division
15:15 Protecting our Budgets - The Need for Greater Research Investment to Keep Roads Safe in Winter
Adrian Runacres, Consultant
TRL and NSSRG
15:30 Chair's Summary
15:40 Afternoon Refreshments and Exhibition Viewing
16:00 Close of Conference

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Please note, it may be necessary to alter the timing, speakers or content of the programme, for reasons beyond our control.
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