On the 2nd-3rd of April, 2019 in Zegrze near Warsaw, workshop was conducted to discuss practical aspects of using the Guidelines for Condition Surface and Evaluation in the routine work of road managers. The workshop was organized by Voivodeship Road Authority in Olsztyn and HELLER Group. In addition to representatives of 15 Polish Voivodeship Road Authorities, the workshop was attended by representatives of the Public Roads Department from the Ministry of Infrastructure. The program was completed by a demonstration of measuring devices used for measurements of longitudinal and transverse evenness, macrotexture, roughness and deflection of road surfaces.

In the assessment of the six road administrations involved in the project of developing guideline which is the Voivodeship Road Authorities in: Olsztyn, Gdańsk, Koszalin, Bydgoszcz, Poznań and Białystok, the prepared documentation will enable the launch of public procurement procedures according to proven standards. At the same time, guidelines clearly impose requirements on the measurement techniques and analytical methods used. The operator of these works, at the time of a tender submission knows, what the orderer’s expectation are and what acceptance criteria will be used.

WDSN’s guidelines and their value for voivodeship road managers have been noticed also by the Ministry of Infrastructure. In the opinion of Ministry’s representatives, the WDSN Guidelines are a valuable initiative, that will enable comparisons of road quality between different voivodeships, which was not possible before, due to lack of set standards in this field. The Ministry of Infrastructure appreciates the bottom-up initiative of voivodeships and their investment in preparing the standard, as well as its quality and the fact that it was consulted not only with the road authorities but also with the market. Therefore, the Ministry will include the WDSN Guidelines in the Guidelines for Local Government Road Maintenance.

The workshop’s success was not just about finalizing the first guidelines for local roads in Poland, but also, which should be highlighted, was made out of the real and to this moment unsatisfied, needs of road managers. The success is also the launch of a platform for the exchange of experience related to the diagnostics of technical condition between road managers. During panel discussions the participants discussed various, often controversial aspects connected to planning and execution of diagnostics, including issues related to the public procurement procedure. At these times, when less and less money is spent on the maintenance of road infrastructure, it is necessary to implement  effective diagnostic methods, giving knowledge on how to spend available funds optimally.

The workshop’s participants declared their need and willingness for this first workshop to initiate a series of meetings for voivodeship road managers, concerning road maintenance and diagnostics. They agreed, that the next workshop, planned for spring 2020, will be dedicated to the issue of using diagnostic data for planning maintenance works. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in Poland, it will probably take place in autumn 2020.