PIARC Committee "Earthworks, Drainage and Subgrade" (TC4.5) has pursued the following topics during the 2004-2007 work period: promoting optimal use of local materials; having indicators representative of the condition ofgeotechnical structures for road asset management; and anticipating the impacts of climate changes. The Committee's activities follow with PIARC Strategic Theme 4 "Quality of Road Infrastructure". The goal is to ensure effective management of road assets by implementing management systems that are able to integrate all infrastructure components, based on indicators that reflect functionalities and taking into account the expectations of users. Concerning the first topic, on one hand, it was observed that the useof wastes and industrial by-products as earthwork materials has both economical and environmental benefits, but national policies for acceptance asfill materials are widely variable from one country to another, and especially the environmental criteria. A survey revealed a large, significant development in soils treatment with lime and hydraulic binders due to savings, to environmental constraints enhancement and to national, suitable specifications. However, the lack of knowledge of specialized equipments, andof suitable binders remain limiting factors to its development in some countries. The scope of the second topic is to give an up-to-date guidance and practice with some recommendations for future improvement to the specialists and professionals in the field of road infrastructure management. The third topic addresses the consequences of climate changes and the possibility to anticipate their effects on road infrastructures. In addition to these technical reports presented in this document, Technical Committee 4-5 organized and contributed to several events which promoted the development of international exchanges of high value on themes related to earthworks, drainage and capping layers. For the covering abstract see ITRD E139491.
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