The School of Civil Engineering launched the brand new ‘Rural Roads for Development’ programme this autumn as part of its portfolio of professional development courses.

rural-roads

Designed to meet the needs of the road sector, the short course brings leading research to industry professionals. 

The week-long residential programme, run by Dr Michael Burrow and Dr Gurmel S. Ghataora took place in September and was attended by 21 international participants, with representatives from Cambodia, Colombia, Germany, India, Laos, Liberia, Malaysia, South Africa, Tanzania and the USA. 

Participants were encouraged to explore the engineering, economic and social aspects associated with building and maintaining sustainably rural roads to meet the needs of rural communities. 

Eight speakers with a wealth of international experience covered topics associated with pro-poor transport appraisal utilising methods for capturing non-monetary benefits, geotechnical engineering of rural roads, sustainable rural road design and construction methods, labour-based & intermediate maintenance technologies, transport services, potential implications of climate change and latest research findings in the area. 

The programme is set to run again in September 2015. For further information please contact Dr Michael Burrow  or Dr Gurmel Ghataora