AASHTO EAST

Abstract

<strong>THE 1990 EUROPEAN ASPHALT STUDY TOUR AN OV E RVIEW</strong> <br>In mid-September 1990, a team of pavement specialists from the United States participated in a 2-week tour of six European nations. The team included representatives from the AASHTO, the FHWA, the NAPA, the SHRP, TAI, and the TRB. The full European Asphalt Study Tour (EAST) team visited, in order, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, while a subcommittee drawn from the AASHTO and the FHWA participants visited Italy. <br>The six nations have much in common with the United States. AU are industrialized, have extensive highway and road systems, and rely increasingly on motor vehicles for moving people and freight. While the six nations have mature railroad networks that move large numbers of passengers and considerable freight, the number of motor vehicles and the use of trucks to move goods have grown constantly. All the nations visited have modern, capable highway agencies and a mature construction industry. Some also have extensive highway research facilities. <br>The emerging European Economic Community of the 1990's will cause tariff and trade barriers to decline among the nations, leading to a confederation that--to some extent--will resemble the United States, but without our strong national government. The coming together of the nations is affecting highways, as it is many other aspects of life in Europe. For example, a highway system is emerging that is comparable in many ways to the Interstate System in the United States. The European motorway network totals some 40,000 km (about 25,000 miles), including approximately 13,500 km (8,400 miles) of toll roads. It will be capable of moving goods by truck from Norway in the north to Italy in the South, and from Eastern Europe to the Atlantic ports.