Serbia’s Highway Institute [Institut za puteve] continues to rank as a regional leader in the field of highway engineering. Testifying to this claim is the fact that it has played the most important role in road construction over its previous 70 years of operations, which is manifested in the huge number of road projects it has implemented in the country and abroad, and in the high quality of its work.
The experts of the Highway Institute are today working on preliminary designs for the Novi Sad-Ruma-Šabac and Iverak- Lajkovac roads and the Požarevac- Veliko Gradište-Golubac and Paraćin-Zaječar expressways, as well as developing the preliminary design for the Moravian Corridor and conducting expert supervision for the Sremska Rača-Kuzmin road.
The Highway Institute has been a reliable partner to the state, but also international partners and institutions, since it was founded. Are you still considered a regional leader in the area of highway engineering?
Since its very inception, the Highway Institute has been, and remains, a bearer of new ideas, new knowledge and insights, which sets tasks related to the planning, design, construction and maintenance of roads. It is the first operator in the field of roadworks to hold the JUS ISO 9001 Certificate (domestic and international).
The Highway Institute is today an organisation that works according to world standards in monitoring the development of road transport, planning road construction, economically justifying investments in road construction, designing roads, highways, bridges and tunnels, researching road construction materials, performing expert and technical supervision and control of the construction and maintenance of roads and facilities of all types and categories.
In order to reduce the outflow of personnel it is necessary to provide the same working conditions, possibilities of professional advancement and quality of life as those that exist in Western countries
When it comes to road infrastructure, the state is building more than ever before. To what extent does it rely on the Highway Institute in these works? What projects are you currently working on?
The extent to which the road system and highway engineering are dependent on the situation, processes and changes in the fields of politics and the economy is known. Through the constant innovation of knowhow, the procurement of modern equipment, improvements and the application of new methods and procedures, the Highway Institute has become a pillar of support and an indispensable factor in strategically complex and comprehensive projects related to the modern approach to improving roads.
The first modern road projects implemented and today’s highways, as well as the first prefeasibility and feasibility studies that served as the basis for the approving of loans from the World Bank and the European Bank, were done at the Highway Institute. These are all important reasons why the state relies on the work and experience of our Institute. The Highway Institute is today working on the following important projects: preliminary design of the Novi Sad-Ruma-Šabac road; preliminary design of the Požarevac-Veliko Gradište-Golubac expressway; preliminary design of the Paraćin- Zaječar expressway; the project to construct the Moravian Corridor, the project to construct the Iverak-Lajkovac expressway and expert supervision of Sremska Rača-Kuzmin road.
Enterprises for roadworks, but also the entire construction sector, are plagued by the shortage of expert personnel and skilled workers. How can the outflow of essential staff be halted?
In order to reduce the outflow of personnel it is necessary to provide the same working conditions, possibilities of professional advancement and quality of life as those that exist in Western countries. One possible answer to your question lies in the possibility of overcoming the lack of an adequate workforce on the market by road companies and enterprises adapting their operations and intensifying cooperation with faculties and ministries. It is essential to have partnership relations between the employer, the labour market and educational institutions, with harmonised relations between earnings and the cost of living, as well as the improvement of the system of professional training through additional investment in the quality, availability and number of training courses.