Road maintenance work has gradually been increasing in Latin America. Existing contracts in Argentina, Chile, Guatemala and Uruguay - 210 overall - account for a total of 20,212 kilometers of public roadways by level of service. In Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, 26 contracts are now in the pipeline for the maintenance of 7,700 kilometres of roadway. This issue of the FAL Bulletin presents a survey of the status of road maintenance considered at the second Seminar of the Americas of the Road Maintenance Training Programme (Provial), held in Lima, Peru from 18 to 21 October 1999 and which examined the type of financing used in road maintenance as well as contracts, institutions and interaction between the public and private sectors.