The Malaysian Road Conference 2010 (MRC), the eighth in a series of biennial conferences, has emerged as a premier regional platform for sharing research findings and exchanging ideas on cutting-edge technologies relating to the development, construction, management and maintenance of roads, highways and related infrastructure.
The conference, first held in 1994, will be held from October 10–13 this year. It will be held at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre, Petaling Jaya, in the suburbs of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. The conference is being organised by the Ministry of Works, Malaysia, Public Works Department of Malaysia, Malaysian Highway Authority and the Road Engineering Association of Malaysia. It is also supported by the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, Institution of Highways and Transportation (Malaysian Branch) and Institution of Transport System Association of Malaysia (ITS Malaysia). The MRC is a must attend event for those involved in the design, construction, maintenance and finance of road engineering projects. The theme for the MRC is slated to be, ‘Towards Sustainable Road Development and Operations.’
More than 30 local and foreign papers are expected to be presented and discussed at the technical and workshop sessions at the MRC. A prominent feature of the event is that one special lecture by an international infrastructure expert will be held on each day. Leading practitioners and consultants in the road engineering space, including officials from the Malaysian government, will share the latest, most useful and most relevant information pertaining to the increasingly dynamic road construction environment. With a flexible technical programme comprising both speaking streams and workshops on each day, delegates can freely pick their preferred event. A 60-booth exhibition held in conjunction with the conference will offer the road engineering industry an opportunity to introduce and showcase its latest products and services. Around 800 local and international participants are expected to register for the session
Global participants will have the invaluable opportunity to partake in the sharing of Malaysian experiences in the niche field of road engineering.
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Some Prominent Speakers at the Conference
Dr Kim Jonathan Jenkins, Professor of Civil Engineering and current Chair in Pavement Engineering at the University of Stellenboschh, South Africa. He has co-authored two books and published more than 140 papers and technical reports.
Title: How Green is Your Pavement?
Rehabilitation or Recycling Selection?
Prof Dr Andre AA Molenaar, Professor of Highway Engineering at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. He has authored and co-authored more than 100 papers and publications.
Title: Design and Construction of Sustainable Roads
Professor Dr Henry Kerali, Transport Sector Manager for the Sustainable Development Department at the World Bank for Europe and the Central Asia Region. He has over 100 publications in journals, conference proceedings and has contributed to several books.
Title: Improving the Management and Financing of Transport Infrastructure
Dato’ Prof Ir Dr Ashaari bin Mohamad, Senior Director of Slope Engineering Branch, Public Works Department, Malaysia. He is also the Visiting Professor at University Technology Malaysia (UTM). He has authored and co-authored more than 20 papers for national and international conferences and publications.
Title: Slope Management Along Federal Roads
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 Proposed Technical Visits
Technical visits have been planned in and around Malaysia in order to study the various innovations implemented in the region in order to build, maintain and operate de-congested roads and highways. These include:
Smart Tunnel: The ‘Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel’ or ‘Smart Tunnel’ is an integral part of the Kuala Lumpur Flood Mitigation Project, built mainly to reduce the occurrence of flash floods in certain areas and ease traffic congestion between the Kuala Lumpur city centre and the southern gateway at Sg Besi TUDM. The project took four years to complete and was officially opened in July 2007.
The longest stormwater tunnel in Southeast Asia and second longest in Asia, at a length of 9.7 km, the project was undertaken by the government, through the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia. It was built under a joint venture with Gamuda Berhad and Malaysian Mining Corporation Berhad.
The tunnel operates in three modes. In the first mode, in the absence of a storm, no water is diverted into the system. In the second mode and in case of most storms, flood water is diverted into the bypass tunnel located in the lower channel of the motorway tunnel, where the motorway section is still open to traffic. In the third mode and in case of major storms, the motorway is closed to all traffic, while automated water-tight gates are opened to allow floodwaters to pass through. This is reopened to traffic within 48 hours of closure.
The Kuala Lumpur–Kuala Selangor Expressway: The Kuala Lumpur–Kuala Selangor Expressway (KLKSE), a two-lane dual carriageway under construction by Bina Puri Holdings Berhad, connects Assam Jawa near Kuala Selangor to Templer Park near Rawang, covering a distance of 32 km at an estimated cost of Malaysian Ringgit 958 million. Begun in September 2008, construction is expected to be finished by early 2011. An open-toll system expressway consisting of three toll plazas and rest and service areas, it is interlinked with other roads and highways.
New Istana Negara–Jalan Duta Elevated Interchange: The New Istana Negara to Jalan Duta Elevated Interchange which costs an estimated Malaysian Ringgit 106 million, employs the ‘precast box girder’ method consisting of four incoming and outgoing ramps from the north and south of Jalan Duta. The project was awarded to Ahmad Zaki Resources Berhad.
The MHA Traffic Monitoring Centre: The Malaysian Highway Authority’s Traffic Management Centre (TMC), constructed in March 2005 with a cost of Malaysian Ringgit 24 million, officially commenced operations in April 2007.
It was installed for its Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) in highway networks, in order to ensure smooth traffic movement and improve road safety. The application provides real-time traffic information to highway users via variable message signboard (VMS), portal web, SMS, and multimedia messaging systems. Based on the concept of ‘open architecture’, which allows for future network upgrades, TMC gathers real-time traffic information through 210 CCTVs, 88 VMSs and 222 vehicle detection stations. It is also equipped with a Geographic Information System (GIS) system, highway radio systems, traveling time and destination, as well as vehicle information and communication systems.
ITS-DBKL: The Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), the local authority concerned with town planning, wanted to integrate the ITS to overcome traffic problems. This undertaking was completed in March 2005, with the cooperation of Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia, Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR), and Ministry of Transport and government funding worth Malaysian Ringgit 365 million. DBKL has been managing and administering the project since June 2005, under the Road Transport Department.
The Integrated Transport Information System (ITIS) provides a source of real-time information on traffic conditions so that drivers can plan their journey accordingly. Traffic monitoring, accident prevention, construction and other situations occurring on roads and highways are reported. The centre, located in Technology Park Malaysia in Bukit Jalil, receives, processes and disseminates traffic data received at all times and supported by two main systems, namely the Advanced Traffic Management System and Advanced Travel Information System. The main traffic data is combined from the Automatic Incident Detection, Automatic Vehicle Location System and CCTVs. This data is disseminated through VMS, radio stations, internet, the ITIS call centres and SMSes.
Social visits that may be attended with spouses will also be organised. These comprise the Kuala Lumpur city tour, Karyaneka Batik Painting, a visit to Selangor Pewter, Putrajaya tour and Kuala Selangor Nature Park and a Fireflies tour. Others include a one-day Malacca Tour and three-day/two-night tours to Penang, Langkawi, Taman Negara National Park and Mulu Caves, Sarawak.
The organising committee is now inviting technical papers covering a wide range of highway and traffic engineering fields such as network management and operations, road safety engineering, highway structures, road pavement, transport economics, road user behaviour, transport planning, geo-technical and slope engineering works. Cash awards ranging between $500–1,500 will be given to the three best papers presented at the conference, which hopes to bring together global stakeholders of the niche industry and pave a sustainable road to the future. |
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