About the Conference

Safe Road Surfaces - Saving Lives

ARRB Group is hosting the 3rd International Road Surface Friction Conference in association with NZTA and WDM®. The Conference will be held at Hyatt Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, between 15 and 18 May 2011.

The theme of the Conference is Safer Road Surfaces – Saving Lives reflecting the undoubted contribution that effectively managing road surface friction can make to achieving positive road safety outcomes.

It will focus on the importance of internal and external partnerships in effectively managing skid resistance at a road network level, as well as more traditional issues associated with the collection of data and the specification of materials.

The Conference will provide opportunities for delegates to network, share industry knowledge and exchange research information.

One of the highlights of the conference will almost certainly be the hands-on testing day to be held at Queensland government’s Mount Cotton test track on Day 3 of the conference, where delegates will be able to witness and in a number of cases, experience, a number of the key concepts and underlying principles of road surface friction, across a range of different vehicle types. Learning through personal experience – there’s no better way!

It has been rightly recognised through international models like the Safe Systems approach to road safety that positive outcomes do not just happen. They require co-operation between individuals, teams, divisions, sections and organisations; across a number of technical disciplines, and a further focus of the conference will be on how to foster co-operation and where needed, embarking on more formal partnerships. It is also essential that regular opportunity is taken to benchmark against, and learn from presentations of, local, national and international best and good practice.

Accordingly, the conference program has been specially developed to interest many, including:

  • asset management practitioners
  • road safety and traffic management practitioners
  • crash investigators and reconstructionists
  • road designers
  • equipment suppliers
  • survey contractors
  • materials suppliers
  • road related researchers, academics and experts
  • maintenance contractors
  • road user interest and advocacy groups
  • vehicle dynamics specialists and vehicle designers
  • legal practitioners
  • young engineers, graduates and those new to road engineering
  • road authority management and Councilors.