‘Road infrastructure in Germany’ – event review

This event addressed the need for enhanced investment in and improved management of road maintenance and construction across the federal as well as the secondary road network in Germany - a need recognized by the general public and partly acknowledged by the Federal Ministry of Transportation when it recently announced that in 2017 a record sum, approximately 6.6 billion euros, would be invested in federal road infrastructure, which will be followed by consistent budgets in the upcoming years.

As well as lively networking sessions at the start and end of the event, the very interesting panel session involved leading industry and political figures:
Marco Bokies, Managing Director of the German Asphalt Producer´s Association (DAV); Stefan Gerwens from Pro Mobilität; Bernd Sablotny from Saxon State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Transport; Hans-Georg Stutz, Managing Director of Stutz GmbH, representing Zentralverband Deutsches Baugewerbe; and Anja Sörensen from Eurobitume Deutschland.

During the panel session a number of key issues were discussed, including work bottlenecks caused by the widespread late release of tenders within the road construction ‘season’, which creates particular challenges in terms of construction material availability, mixing plant capacity, transportation and manpower. Another issue debated by the panel was the shortage, post global economic slowdown, of suitably qualified and experienced engineers.