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In the December issue I mentioned we would be publishing more Codes of Practice during 2013 and I am pleased to report we are making solid progress with a new Code of Practice for Crack Sealing and Joint Repair Systems for Road Surfaces published in March and further Codes under preparation for; Fine Milling, Asphalt Preservation and the use of Geosynthetics under Surface Dressings. All of these Codes are peer reviewed by the ADEPT Soils Materials Design and Specification Group to provide client side endorsement and are freely available on the RSTA website. They should make vital reading for everyone concerned with surface course maintenance.

I also mentioned last time that widening our stakeholder engagement will be a key theme for this year and I am pleased to report that we have initiated discussions with HTMA, CBI and IHE. The CBI is particularly interesting with an open invitation for RSTA to join their Roads Policy Group which is involved in influencing government thinking on roads investment. The HTMA is also a key stakeholder for RSTA and I look forward to building a sustainable relationship with them and working closely on areas of mutual interest. This year will also see some key changes with CE Marking coming in mid year and local authorities now having to report the value of assets under their management. As Chris Allen-Smith pointed out at the recent successful RSTA Conference, when Historical Cost accounting is replaced with Depreciated Replacement Cost it will show roads to represent about 50% of the asset value of local authorities which should raise road maintenance back up the political agenda.

2013 will also be a record year for RSTA training courses, in particular the demand from members for our new Specialist Up-Skilling Programmes has been unprecedented and we are struggling to service this growing training demand at the moment. During 2012 we trained almost 500 delegates from Councils, Contractors and Consultants a marked improvement on previous years. I am pleased to report that the RSTA is now finally rolling out the range of new Carbon calculators developed in association with the University of Nottingham. We will be providing free training courses to members delivered by Jonathan Haycock our newly appointed Technical Services Manager. So if Carbon management is on your agenda please contact the Colchester office for further details on how to obtain these new Carbon Calculators and to receive the necessary training. And finally fingers crossed for a warm, dry and successful season!

Dr Howard Robinson
Chief Executive

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