Mission
The EUROBRIDGE Conference was created in 2021, at the initiative of Christian Tridon, entrepreneur and member of the French Federation of Public Works, and Le Pont Association. It gathers every year in Brussels, to talk about maintenance methods, training and carbon impact. Engineers, consultants, contractors, federations, public services etc. attend the event.
The primary goal of the EUROBRIDGE conference is to act as a knowledge platform, to learn about the countries’ challenges and strategies linked to maintenance, to exchange best practices, and discover innovative technics. EUROBRIDGE also aims to alert the public administrations, the European Commission and the European Parliament, on their network’s growing maintenance needs, to maintain the level of service around Europe.
An exhibition area allows start-ups and companies to present their latest know-how to a wide European audience.
FIEC
Created in 1905, FIEC stands for the European Construction Industry Federation.
Through its 32 national member federations in 27 European countries (24 EU & Norway, Switzerland, Ukraine), it represents construction enterprises of all sizes (from one person craftsmen and SMEs through to large international firms), from all building and civil engineering specialties, engaged in all kinds of working methods (whether operating as main or sub-contractors).
Thanks to its wide-ranging representativeness FIEC is the officially recognised Social Partner, representing employers, in the European Sectoral Social Dialogue « Construction ».
FIEC strives to :
- Represent and promote the interests of the European construction industry towards the European Institutions while helping to increase knowledge of the sector among policymakers and the general public.
- Promote sustainable development in the construction business in order to facilitate the implementation of the green transition and thereby the achievement of the EU Green Deal goals.
- Promote a public procurement system ensuring a true level playing field for all EU construction companies.
- Ensure that the specific interests of construction SMEs are taken into account.
- Promote a network of sustainable transport and energy infrastructure to help underpin the EU’s medium and long-term growth.
- Cooperate, as the officially recognised Social Partner, with the EFBWW (European Federation of Building and Wood Workers), representing the workers, for the improvement of working conditions, health and safety and training.
- Promote and facilitate cooperation and the exchange of best practicebetween FIEC members and other players in the eco-system, such as architects, engineers, products and machineries manufacturers.
Structural Maintenance
The EU has one of the world’s most extensive transport infrastructure networks. However, Europe’s transport network is ageing, with most of it dating from the 50s-70s and is increasingly strained by rising traffic volumes. While the maintenance needs increase, the available fundings shorten. The resulting maintenance gap has caused significant deterioration, perhaps collapse or closure of bridges.
The Structural Maintenance Committee within FIEC advocates for more predictive and regular maintenance: Europe must maintain the quality of its infrastructure network, not only for the Europeans’ wellbeing but also to reduce the carbon impact of its infrastructure. The Committee is joined by French, Spanish, German, Italian, Romanian and Greek colleagues.
FIEC has prioritized the revision of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) regulation, the key EU instrument shaping Member States’ infrastructure policies. This revision aimed to enhance the quality and maintenance of TEN-T infrastructure, emphasizing the structural stability of critical assets such as bridges and tunnels. The revised text makes it mandatory to consider the maintenance of the network.
“Maintenance and project life cycle
Without prejudice to the responsibility of the Member States regarding the planning, financing and management of the maintenance of infrastructure, and to the budgetary principle of annuality, where applicable, Member States shall make all possible efforts to ensure: (a) the infrastructure of the trans-European transport network is maintained in a way that it provides, during its lifetime, a high level of service and safety adapted to the traffic flow, and that preventive maintenance needs, improvements to its resilience and estimated costs over the life-time of the infrastructure are taken into account in the planning phase of construction or upgrading; (b) long term maintenance planning for road and where relevant, for inland waterway infrastructure; and (c) consistency between the maintenance and renewal needs in the case of railway infrastructure related to the development of the trans-European network for transport and the indicative rail infrastructure development strategy referred to in Article 8(1) of Directive 2012/34/EU and the contractual agreement referred to in Article 30 of Directive 2012/34/EU.”
The Structural Maintenance Committee, with the support of FIEC, launched the annual Eurobridge Conference, highlighting the need for improved maintenance practices.
Team
Let's get down to business!
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