IRF-Washington holds 13th Annual Seminar on Contract Maintenance
The International Road Federation held its 13th Annual Executive Seminar on Contract Maintenance & Innovative Financing October 19-29, 2008. This high level seminar featured executives from 14 countries from all across the globe. The seminar featured subject matter from a wide cross section of organizations.
The seminar's purpose is not only for the attendees to learn from the speakers, but also for the attendee and speakers to interact with each other and share valuable experiences in this constantly evolving subject. In many cases the attendees and the speakers gained valuable insights from each other. One of the main conclusions of the seminar was there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Each country has unique circumstances that dictate how best to apply maintenance contracting.
"I expect that a variety of lessons through this seminar will help us adopt a brand-new contract based on performance," said Tomonobu Tanino, Central Nippon Expressway Company Ltd., Japan. "Also, I realize that our contract should be sophisticated enough to keep up with the other countries."
It was also noted that preserving the current infrastructure - and not letting it deteriorate to the point where it will cost more money to repair or replace - is of paramount importance. This emphasizes the need for organizations to perform Life Cycle Cost Analysis on their infrastructure. And it was agreed that the authority and the contractor must work together as partners.
The attendees took many lessons away from the 10-day seminar, complete with site visits, workbooks, real-world case studies and expert presentations.
"Thank you very much for everything. The time spent was rewarding and I have acquired a lot," said Larry Reeves of the Ministry of Public Works in Liberia. "I really appreciate all of the presenters, and the IRF family for holding this wonderful seminar."