Belgian participation in the XIIIth International Winter Road Congress

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

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A Belgian mission will take part in the XIIIth International Winter Road Congress, to be held in Québec City from February 8 to 11, 2010. It will be composed of Claude Van Rooten, member of the Executive Committee of the World Road Association (PIARC) and Director General of the Road Research Centre (RRC); Jean-Claude Moureau, President of the RRC and Director General of Bruxelles-Mobilité; and Etienne Scherpereel, Vice-President of the RRC and President of the Fédération belge des entrepreneurs de voirie.

Loupe

This mission comes in the wake of a major technical mission to Brussels by the Québec delegation in 2002 concerning the design and construction of concrete roadways.

The Belgian delegation will meet with Québec’s Minister of Transport, Julie Boulet; PIARC’s President and Québec’s Assistant Deputy Minister of Transport, Anne-Marie Leclerc; the First Delegate of Canada to PIARC and President of the Canadian National Committee, Martin Lelièvre; the Mayor of Québec City, Régis Labeaume; and the President of the Organizing Committee of the XIIIth International Winter Road Congress and Québec’s Deputy Minister of Transport, Michel Boivin.

With the theme “Sustainable Winter Service for Road Users”, the congress will discuss various issues related to the maintenance of the road network in winter. Participants will have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with practices in Québec, particularly those of the Québec City services centre of the ministère des Transports. The centre is responsible for the maintenance of about 800 kilometres of road out of the total road network of nearly 1700 kilometres in the region, which is often rugged and can receive more than 5 metres of snowfall annually!

The Québec 2010 organizing committee decided to organize the XIIIth International Winter Road Congress in an eco-responsible manner in order to do its part for the environment, in keeping with the theme of the congress. Four objectives were chosen: reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reduce waste, convert waste and favour regional businesses.

Because it must live with winter, the Québec population has learned to see its good sides. It in fact derives a thousand and one delights from this glacial season. Over the years, Quebecers have become “experts in winter festivities”, as shown by the Québec Carnival, the largest winter carnival in the world, which the Belgian delegation will very likely have an opportunity to fully enjoy.

Congress program