TRL research to cut greenhouse gases

TRL has begun a €450,000 research project to help European road operators better address the impacts of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It is leading a consortium of six partners to deliver the two year DeTECToR (Decision-support Tools for Embedding Climate Change Thinking on Roads) project.

The aim is to produce practical tools and guidance documents, enabling road operators to integrate climate change considerations in decision-making and procurement. These include a cost-benefit tool that will use climate projections and asset information to enable the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of different adaptation actions.

A series of pilot studies will be used to trial the guidance and tools, including one in the UK conducted by TRL. Road operators will be engaged throughout the project, though surveys, interviews and workshops to ensure the tools and guidance produced meets their needs. The DeTECToR outputs will be an important new resource for road operators helping them to address some of the most challenging issues relating to climate change.

Dr Sarah Reeves, the TRL co-ordinator of the project, said: “DeTECToR represents a major step-change in embedding climate change adaptation in the decision making of road operators. It will provide the road industry with advanced tools and guidance based on the very latest research to help them improve the resilience of their networks.”

The project is part of CEDR’s Transnational Road Research Programme, Call 2015 Climate Change: From Desk to Road and is funded by Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Austria.