“Bridging” EU institutions with the sector

The Eurobridge 2023 conference, co-organised by FIEC gathered officials from the EU institutions, representatives of national authorities, research and innovation experts and the private sector and developed around 3 roundtables:

• inspection and management
• environmental impacts of bridges
• new professions for bridge management

The discussions highlighted that the maintenance of a bridge begins with a thorough knowledge of its condition. A complete diagnosis allows the definition of corrective measures. The monitoring and management methods are diverse. The presentation of sample cases from some selected European countries inspired a debate on the challenges linked with the implementation of those EU policies and flagships put in place to facilitate the green and digital transitions.

“It is important that Construction Associations help companies on the path toward decarbonisation also by means of operational tools”, highlighted Piero Petrucco, FIEC Vice-President ‘Sustainability’ and CEO of ICOP (Italy), in his intervention during the roundtable on the environmental impact of bridges presenting best practices in terms of management approaches to contribute achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Ensuring a well-maintained infrastructure

“FIEC has repeatedly advocated on the importance of a regular maintenance of the existing infrastructure, the uptake of innovative infrastructure, and the swift implementation of these projects. All this is vital to meeting the EU Green Deal goals” – said José-Michael Chenu, FIEC Vice-President. He also reported how “malfunctioning bridges” could lead to “higher economic costs” and “negative consequences on traffic flows”. Well-known examples include the recent closure of a 50-plus year-old bridge in Northwest Germany, severely disrupting traffic in the area, or the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Italy.

FIEC has been very active in pushing for the most ambitious legislation as possible in this field, with a particular focus on the revision of the guidelines for the Trans-European Transport network (TEN-T). FIEC considers that the new TEN-T rules could be an important step in the right direction in terms of tackling Europe’s maintenance deficit.

More info - email to:

Afonso Brito

Policy Officer Economic and Legal Affairs (ECO)

a.brito@fiec.eu

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