Over the past few months, Martin Lamb, Director of Maple Consulting, has been preparing the 8th iteration of the Forum of European Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL) Strategic European Road Research Plan (SERRP VIII), covering the period from 2025 to 2027, having also been the lead author for both the 6th and 7th iterations. Since its first edition in 1993, the SERRP has evolved to reflect the growing demands of society and technology. Initially focused on road materials and construction, it now addresses pressing issues such as climate change, decarbonisation, and the impact of modern technologies on road infrastructure.
FEHRL’s current priorities aim to make transport infrastructure more resilient to climate change while reducing the sector’s environmental footprint. A circular economy approach, focusing on repairability and resource efficiency, is at the core of this goal. SERRP VIII also highlights opportunities presented by the European Green Deal and emerging technologies such as sensors, drones, 5G, and robotics.
Research Priorities and Themes
SERRP VIII identifies three key research priorities:
- Built Environment: Covers the broad themes of physical and digital infrastructure, reflecting the pressures being placed on ageing infrastructure and the opportunities new technologies can bring. The research topics are upgrading ageing infrastructure, asset life extension, asset management, digital infrastructure, resilience to human attacks, procurement for innovation and circularity, advanced construction methods and materials, infrastructure as a service and new business models and resilience to extreme weather and climate change.
- Natural Environment: Explores how the adverse environmental impacts of road construction and operation can be mitigated, and positive environmental outcomes achieved. The Research Themes are enhancing biodiversity, decarbonisation/climate-neutral operations, energy harvesting, circular economy and resource use, air quality, and low noise.
- Social Environment: Aims to create equitable, safe, and secure transport systems for all users, including road safety and worker safety. The Research Themes are road user safety, road worker safety, infrastructure for health and equity.
Key Research Areas
In addition to the research areas outlined above, 13 potential research activities were scoped out in more detail as part of a position paper and are included in SERRP. These topics are:
1. Road Infrastructure Response to Electrification and CAVs – understanding the impact of the weight dynamics of vehicles and future trajectories of battery technology.
2. Asset Life Extension – understanding post-pandemic traffic loading and the potential for connected and automated plant to build and maintain better quality roads at lower cost.
3. Decarbonisation and Climate Neutral Operations – measures to reduce the carbon intensity of highways for construction, operation and vehicle propulsion, particularly for heavy vehicles.
4. New materials, circular materials and models to monitor service life – investigate options for repair and circularity and new and innovative business models to facilitate it.
5. Green Infrastructure and mitigation and adaptation to climate change – the use of natural processes and green infrastructure to lower embodied carbon and protect and upgrade transport infrastructure.
6. Mobility network infrastructure – research across the entire transport cycle from the design, construction, operation and maintenance.
7. Infrastructure adaptation to urban logistics – understand the practicalities of new options for urban logistics and the biggest impact of the logistics chain, where barriers exist and where interventions could be made.
8. Enhancing Biodiversity – improved soil quality appropriate to the growing regime, methods to prevent / filter pollutants in road runoff and methods to integrate infrastructure more sensitively to its environment.
9. Air Quality – calculate NOx and SOx emissions based on a range of future vehicle fleet mix scenarios and develop solutions for capturing and collecting non-exhaust emissions in real-world conditions.
10. Low Road Noise – life extension of low-noise pavements in a range of European climatic zones, develop even lower-noise pavements, develop low-noise pavements for cold climates and the development of novel noise barriers.
11. Asset Management – existing and potential future asset management techniques, using fixed and mobile sensors, and the integration of multiple data sources.
12. Road Safety and the use of AI – understand the impact of connected and autonomous vehicles on road safety, improve infrastructure design for cyclists and others using micro-mobility and understand how AI / machine learning can be applied to road safety.
13. Transport Equity – provision of infrastructure and transport solutions that are accessible for all sections of society.
The FEHRL secretariat in Brussels will make the case for the research requirements identified to be included in research schemes. It will also make the case to public and private organisations that FEHRL member institutes make attractive partners to engage in cooperative research, with well-respected research capabilities and extensive research facilities.
The SERRP VIII strategy, research topics for the built, natural and social environments and the position paper are all available here >
Moving ForwardTo support the implementation of SERRP VIII, FEHRL has reorganised its Research Committee into three expert groups covering the built, natural, and social environments. These groups will continuously review research priorities and work to inform national research agendas. The FEHRL Secretariat in Brussels will advocate for the inclusion of these research priorities in national and international research funding schemes, ensuring FEHRL remains a leader in cooperative road research. For more information on SERRP VIII, visit FEHRL’s strategy page.
