RoadWatch: Roundup

July 2020

Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for July. Discover our latest news, published reports, Guide updates, webinars and events.

2020-2024 Strategic Plan focuses on transport problem solving

Austroads has released its 2020-2024 Strategic Plan which refocuses the organisation to help solve problems for transport agencies in Australia and New Zealand.

The Plan notes that Austroads' purpose is to provide practical and impartial advice, information, tools and services to help members deliver efficient, reliable and safe mobility to their customers.

Austroads Chief Executive, Geoff Allan, said the plan has eight key focus areas that will direct Austroads' work and build on its strengths of delivering high quality technical guidance and collectively identifying and solving Australasian transport problems.

Austroads welcomes Louise McCormick as Deputy Chair

Louise McCormick, General Manager for Transport and Civil Services Division with the Northern Territory’s Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics, was appointed Austroads Deputy Chair on 2 July 2020.

Louise has served on the Austroads Board for nearly three years and is an Executive Engineer, Chartered Fellow and Senior Civil/Structural Engineer with 19 years experience in the public and private sectors.

Welcoming Louise to the position, Neil Scales, Austroads Chair and Director-General Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, noted the extensive transport experience she brings to the role.

“Louise has managed some of the largest transport infrastructure projects in the Territory, and contributed towards the Northern Territory’s response to the White Paper on Developing Northern Australia from a transport and engineering perspective,” Neil said.

New methodology to guide procurement decisions for road infrastructure projects

Austroads has published a research report on the trial of a new methodology that guides transport agencies through the infrastructure procurement process and produces high quality and cost-effective outcomes.

“When it comes to ensuring we achieve the best value from a new infrastructure project, it’s important to select the most appropriate project delivery model,” said Ross Guppy, Program Manager Transport Infrastructure.

“Selecting a model involves an element of risk and application of project specific requirements, including market conditions. Often qualitative approaches are relied on, but the diversity in project specific considerations can make this process difficult and when done incorrectly can result in disputes, poor quality or additional cost.”

Technical specifications on construction and maintenance of road assets

Austroads has published four new technical specifications dealing with supply of assets and treatments used to extend the life of concrete in bridges.

“These specifications are part of a comprehensive suite of specifications for the construction of roads and bridges known as Austroads Technical Specifications. The Austroads Technical Specifications reflect contemporary construction practice and wherever possible, they are consistent with the relevant Australian and New Zealand standards,” said Ross Guppy, Austroads Program Manager, Assets.

Two specifications contain requirements for the supply of assets used in road or bridge construction and maintenance.The other two specifications cover treatments that extend the durability of steel and concrete in bridge construction.

New technical specification on correct use of reinforcing steel in concrete

Austroads has published a technical specification setting out requirements for the supply, handling and placement of carbon and stainless reinforcing steel in concrete.

“This is another Austroads Technical Specification in the series to improve construction and maintenance of roads and bridges,” said Ross Guppy, Transport Infrastructure Program Manager. “As with our other specifications, all the instructions in ATS 5310 regarding supply, fabrication and installation meet Australian and New Zealand Standards, or where applicable, international standards.”

Tactical urbanism response to COVID-19

Austroads has gathered a panel of leading practitioners from the United States, New Zealand and Australia to speak about the latest actions in tactical urbanism and how they influence the rethink of public space in the time of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The need to make cities more safe, inclusive and meaningful to people is becoming the central focus of urban development. Cities around the world are using a tactical urbanism approach to enhance the build environment and address the needs of their communities.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for tactical urbanism solutions to make streets and other public spaces both safe and sociable through projects that are quick, inexpensive and can be modified over time based on community needs,” said Richard Delplace, Austroads Program Manager Transport Network Operations.

“Reimagining public space is now more important than ever. Our way of life has been drastically changed and at the same time we have been given a unique opportunity to reconsider what and who our streets and public places are for.”

Austroads predicts cars in 2030 will have advanced safety features but still need a driver

By 2030 in Australia, almost all new passenger vehicles will contain automatic emergency braking and about 73% will be fitted with other safety features such as lane keeping assistance and adaptive cruise control, according to Austroads’ new research report, Future Vehicles 2030.

‘We’ve used the latest knowledge and evidence to predict features and technologies new passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles and heavy vehicles will contain in 2030, in both Australia and New Zealand,” said John Wall, Future Vehicles and Technology Program Manager. “Our report also covers the likely make-up of vehicle fleets in both countries and possible differences between vehicle capabilities in urban and rural areas.”

Forecasts in the report focus on specific attributes, that is, active safety systems, automated driving, connectivity via Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems or to the cloud, battery electric vehicles, and vehicles used for hire in cities with a driver such as taxis and ride share services.

Upcoming Austroads webinars

Tactical Urbanism - Streets for People
Tuesday 21 July, 12 noon AEST
This webinar, presented by Mike Lydon, Claire Pascoe and Sara Stace, explains the latest actions in tactical urbanism and how they influence the rethink of public space to build cities that are more inclusive, safe and prosperous for all.

Procurement Decision Tool: A Case Study of the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing
Friday 31 July, 1.00 pm AEST
This webinar provides an overview of a new procurement tool and its application to a road infrastructure project, the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing (TSRC) in Queensland. The tool has been designed to significantly advance value for money in the delivery of infrastructure projects.

Vehicles and Technology - Future State 2030
Thursday 6 August, 1.00 pm AEST
This webinar outlines the results of predictions about features and technologies vehicles in 2030 are likely to contain and use, and introduces the methodology and evidence base that underpins them. The webinar focuses on forecasting the penetration of the technologies into both new vehicles and the vehicle fleet.

Standards Australia – Bitumen and Related Materials for Roads
Tuesday 11 August, 1.00 pm AEST
This webinar gives an overview of an Austroads project which provided expert technical input into the update of four Australian standards which were revised by the Standards Australia Technical Committee CH-025 ‘Bitumen and related products for roadmaking’.

Classifying, Measuring and Valuing the Benefits of Place on the Transport System
Thursday 13 August, 1.00 pm AEST
This webinar explores the different ways place is being measured locally and internationally, and how transport practitioners can practically and effectively classify, measure and value the place function of our streets.

Latest webinar recordings

Decarbonisation of Road Transport Network Operations in Australia and New Zealand
16 June 2020
This webinar focuses on potential opportunities for the road transport sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating the adoption of low and zero-emission vehicles, supporting strategic planning for efficient freight networks and supporting active transport.

Introduction to the Life-Cycle Costing Framework and its Application to Sealed Roads
17 June 2020
This session focuses on the life-cycle costing framework and a suite of practical examples to demonstrate how to assess the best use of available marginal and non‑standard materials on sealed roads in different geographical and climactic conditions in Australia.

Introduction to the Life Cycle Costing Framework and its Application to Unsealed Roads
30 June 2020
This webinar looks specifically into the use of the life-cycle costing framework and the important components that are considered for the assessment of an unsealed road.

View all our past webinars online www.austroads.com.au/webinars.

Shane Gregory awarded Austroads Medal

Shane Gregory has become the 11th recipient of the Austroads Medal in its more than 30-year history.

The Austroads Medal is only awarded to people who have made an exceptional contribution to Austroads and achievement of its objectives over a sustained period.

Shane Gregory served on the Austroads Board since September 2012. He became a member of the Executive Committee in September 2013 and was then elected Deputy Chair in October 2016. He remained as Deputy Chair until his resignation as Board member in February 2020.

Recent research

BITRE: Road deaths Australia - monthly bulletins

This monthly bulletin contains current counts and summaries of road crash deaths and fatal road crashes in Australia. It is published on BITRE's website on or around the 14th of each month. Data are sourced from the road traffic or police authorities in each jurisdiction.

International Research Reports now available

International Transport Forum, Parking Prices and Availability, Mode Choice and Urban Form Discussion Paper
New Zealand Transport Agency, Risks of driving when affected by cannabis, MDMA (ecstasy) and methamphetamine and the deterrence of such behaviour: a literature review
New Zealand Transport Agency, Best practice model for developing legislation

CPEE online courses and workshops

The Centre for Pavement of Engineering Education (CPEE) offers online higher education programs providing formal recognition. With many infrastructure projects under way across Australia, and more in the pipeline, there is even more need for engineers to increase their expertise and knowledge in the work environment.

Semester 2 starts on 20 July with new applications and re-enrolments for CPEE’s programs now open. The options on offer are:

CPEE Graduate Certificate in Pavement Technology (4 units)
CPEE Master of Pavement Technology (8 units)
CPEE Single Units

The CPEE postgraduate award program is fully accredited by the Australian Government and actively supported by Austroads, AAPA and IPWEA.

The CPEE Board has decided that due to the disruptions caused by the COVID 19 restrictions, a 10% discount will apply for Semester 2 enrolments fees for all units.

For further information visit www.pavementeducation.edu.au/study/programs or call the CPEE office on +61 (03) 9890 5155 to talk through the best option suited to you.

Professional Certificate of Competency in Fundamentals of Road Construction
12-week course, starting 10 August

This new CPEE initiative, run in conjunction with the Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT), provides a Professional Certificate in Fundamentals of Road Construction following successful completion of the 12-week course. There is an online lecture every 2 weeks with tasks and assignments to reinforce the learning.

Presented in interactive webinar mode, this course starts on 10 August with limited places available. Book now.

Pavement Design and Construction – understanding the principles (Short Course series)

In bite-size chunks suited to maximising the learning process (2 X 1.5 hr sessions each day for 2 days), the following specialist series of short courses are on offer:

Haul Road Design Workshop: 25 & 27 August (including optional workshop)
Flexible Pavement Design – UNBOUND: 1 & 3rd September (including optional workshop)
Flexible Pavement Design – BOUND: 13 & 15 October (including optional workshop)
Mechanistic Pavement Design – CIRCLY: 20 & 22 October (including workshop)

Upcoming conferences

Conference organisers are carefully reviewing their arrangements to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Please be aware that details may change at short notice.

NEW IPWEA Professional Certificate in Asset Management Planning - 8-week course starting 14 September

Safer Roads 2020, Virginia, USA, November 2020

Australasian Tunnelling Conference, Melbourne, 29 November-3 December, 2020

IABSE Congress, Christchurch, 3-5 February, 2021

17th ITS Asia Pacific Forum, Brisbane, 12-15 April 2021

Austroads Bridge Conference, Adelaide, 11-14 May 2021

AITPM National Traffic and Transport Conference, Brisbane, 27-30 July 2021

19th AAPA International Flexible Pavements Conference 2021, Brisbane, 16-18 August 2021

2021 Australasian Road Safety Conference, Melbourne, 28-30 September 2021