Within the Center of Research and Experimentation of Public Works (Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas), CEDEX, the Road Research Center (Centro de Estudios de Carreteras) is the organization specialized in research, technological development, high level technical assistance and standardisation, concerning planning, project, construction and management of road networks, including traffic engineering and road safety.
From this page you have access to the following information:
The Road Research Center (Centro de Estudios de Carreteras) originated in the "Transport and Soil Mechanics Laboratory" (Laboratorio del Transporte y Mecánica del Suelo), was created in 1944 and placed, initially, at the Faculty of Civil Engineering (Escuela de Ingenieros de Caminos) in Madrid.
In 1957, the Center of Research and Experimentation of Public Works (Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas, CEDEX) was created, and the Transport and Soil Mechanics Laboratory constituted a part of it.
In 1976, it changed its name into "Roads and Geotechnics Laboratory José Luis Escario" (Laboratorio de Carreteras y Geotecnia José Luis Escario).
In 1985 the two areas of the Laboratory (road engineering and geotechnics), were separated, thus creating the "Road Research Center" (Centro de Estudios de Carreteras). Its address is:
Autovía de Colmenar Viejo, Km 18,2.
28760 El Goloso (Madrid)
Tel: (+34 91) 335 78 00
Fax: (+34 91) 335 78 22
In this page it is offered some general information about:
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The main consignee of the activities of research, development, technical assistance and standardisation, is the General Directorate of Roads (Dirección General de Carreteras) of the Spanish Ministry of Infrastructures (Ministerio de Fomento), through a sort of collaboration projects.
It carries out the following activities, too:
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The Road Research Center (Centro de Estudios de Carreteras) has a permanent staff of 104 people, 27 of which have university degrees (14 are Civil Engineers and the others are Technical Engineers on Public Works, Chemists, Physicists, Geologist...).
(For further information you can consult Technical Staff)
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The Center has a important number of pieces of equipment and singular facilities. If you need any further information, you can consult Technical Facilities.
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The technical and research activity is organized in three areas:
Laboratory of Road Infrastructure (including the Road Test Track).
Area of Full Scale Evaluation.
Area of Traffic and Road Safety.
The activities of a general character are organized in the following areas:
Unit of Coordination of Technical Support.
Division of Management of Installations and Equipment.
(For further information you can consult the Chart of the Center, which identifies for each area the person in charge of).
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The Laboratory of Road Infrastructure is the area dedicated to the research on basic road materials (aggregates, cement and bituminous binders), bituminous mixtures, granular layers, bounded layers and concrete,used in pavements, and their testing in laboratory. This area also includes the tests on pavements carried out in the Full Scale Road Test Track, the studies on pavement design, and the monitoring of road sections on duty, analysing their evolution and problems of pathology.
The Director of this Laboratory is Mr. Aurelio Ruiz.
Units within the Laboratory (its head is included in brackets):
Coordination of Full Scale Tests (Mr. Recaredo Romero).
Division of Pavement Tests (Mr. Ramón Rodil).
Division of Basic Materials (vacant).
Division of Pavements (Mr. Julián García).
Division of Standardisation and New Techniques (Mr. Francisco do Pino).
Recent researches and works:
The activities of the area are focused on road materials considered to have a great importance in the near future. In the last years, researches have been carried out in the following fields:
The following projects have been carried out, too:
This Area carries out the activities of research, development and technical assistance, concerning road surveying (including systematic campaigns in the National Road Network) and maintenance. The development of software for Pavement Management Systems should be remarked.
The Head of this Area is Mr. Francisco Achútegui.
Divisions within the Area (its head is included in brackets):
Coordination of Pavement Management Systems (Mr. Oscar Gutiérrez- Bolívar)
Division of Pavement Rehabilitation (Mr. Francisco Sinis)
Division of Pavement Surface Characteristics
Division of Subgrades and Drainage
Recent researches and works:
This Area carries out the activities related to traffic engineering, road signing, and traffic safety (evaluation of roadside ancillaries and their standardisation, study of road users behaviour...)
Divisions within the Area (its head is included in brackets):
Division of Basic Studies of Traffic
Division of Road Signing and Means of Guiding Traffic (Mr. Jesús M. Leal)
Recent researches and works:
This Unit carries out the following activities:
The Head of this Unit is Mr. Fernando Ortiz.
Recent researches and works:
This Division carries out the following activities:
The Head of this Division is Mr. José C. López.