RoadWatch: Roundup

July 2019

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

30 years of Austroads

On Monday 1 July, Austroads celebrated 30 years of collaboration with members and stakeholders, harmonisation across jurisdictions and innovation, but its history stretches back to the 1930s.

Established on 1 July 1989, Austroads replaced the National Association of Australian State Road Authorities (NAASRA) which was established in 1959. The predecessor to NAASRA was the Conference of State Road Authorities (COSRA) which was established in 1934.

In 1933, a conference was held in Melbourne with the Commonwealth and State Ministers for Transport. It led to a decision to hold an annual conference of state road authority executives. The conference was named COSRA and was first was held in February 1934. It afforded all the states and territories the opportunity to disseminate information, coordinate research, and discuss road finance and legislation. The transparency and collaboration of all the states was seen as a major benefit in problem solving across the country, and the strength and importance of the conference grew each year.

Austroads' Board communique - meeting 4 July 2019

The Austroads Board met on 4 July 2019 in Perth, Western Australia and was chaired by Neil Scales, Director-General, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads.

The Board discussed the status of the strategic priority projects and approved 32 projects for implementation in 2019-2020, as well as the current work program.

Read the communique

Richard Delplace takes over from Natalie Lockwood as Program Manager – Network

Austroads welcomes Richard Delplace, who joined Austroads as Program Manager, Network in June.

“Richard is no stranger to Austroads, having worked as a consultant on several initiatives, including recently capturing ways in which transport agencies are adopting new technology-enabled trends such as Artificial Intelligence and Mobility as a Service,” says Nick Koukoulas, Chief Executive, Austroads.

Richard has also developed case studies on latest Smart Motorways applications, and co-authored white papers on Intelligent Transport System planning for arterial roads and the future possible uses of the kerbside.

“I am excited by the opportunity to support the road and transport agencies in their ongoing expansion from road builders to road network operators, and ultimately stewards of multi-modal mobility services,” says Richard.

“There are tremendous initiatives being implemented across the jurisdictions to improve the mobility of people and products. Sharing ideas, experiences and lessons learnt, jointly reviewing international best practice and collaboratively defining the appropriate level of consistency and harmonisation can have a significant impact on our customers’ journeys and the ability of the individual jurisdictions to deliver on their respective visions for mobility and safety.”

Merging polymer modified binder grades to simplify technical specifications and reduce production costs

A new Austroads technical study has proposed merging four grades of polymer modified binders (PMBs) into two in the Australian specification, after extensive testing revealed comparable PMB grades showed similar performance in asphalt and sprayed seals.

“Reducing the number of PMB grades will simplify technical specifications in each jurisdiction,” says Robert Urquhart, Principal Technology Leader, ARRB and author of the study. “Production costs should also be cheaper as fewer tanks will be needed to store different products.”

PMBs are increasingly used in road construction as they resist permanent deformation and cracking better than conventional bitumen. The Specification Framework for Polymer Modified Binders (AGPT/T190) currently includes binder grades for use in asphalt (A grades) and sprayed seal applications (S grades).

This study, Performance of Asphalt and Spray Grade PMBs in Sprayed Seals, compared the difference between samples of S20E and A20E grade PMBs, and S25E and A15E grade PMBs, to determine whether using comparable asphalt and spray grade PMBs influenced sprayed seal performance.

National standard contract for the construction of buildings, roadworks and bridgeworks

Austroads and the Australian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) have released new General Conditions of Contract for Construction, titled National Capital Works 4 (NCW4).

APCC and Austroads developed NCW4 to improve the efficiency of project delivery, and reduce the potential for contractual disputes by driving greater consistency in the contractual conditions and clauses used by members.

It is important to note that NCW4 is primarily for public sector use and ‘Construct Only’ contracts with special conditions to be considered at the jurisdictional level.

Teresa Scott, APCC Executive Director, said “Having new standard General Conditions of Contract will have many benefits, such as reducing the cost of doing business with Government and the potential for contractual disputes.”

“NCW4 will mitigate the need for tenderers to seek legal advice regarding the myriad of contract conditions currently in use. It will also be easier for contractors to transfer their skills and experience between jurisdictions,” Teresa said.

Assessing the risks of transporting dangerous goods in tunnels

This Austroads' report, Dangerous goods in tunnels: Application and methodology sets out a framework for undertaking risk assessments of transporting dangerous goods in road tunnels.

Dangerous goods are items or substances which are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment such as petrol, liquefied petroleum gas, paints, pesticides and acids.

The most common approach to transporting dangerous goods is on roads, although this can be contentious, especially when navigating through sensitive infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels or when the route is near schools or hospitals.

The report:

recognises that the transport of dangerous goods carries some inherent risk, but that banning dangerous goods from tunnels can shift this risk to other areas that may increase the overall risk profile and have an economic impact
provides an approach for road managers to compare the societal benefits of using a road tunnel or another surface route across a complete journey
provides information on the application of design methods to reduce risks
is accompanied by an extensive literature review, including international and local studies and methodologies, trial reports and media.

Heavy vehicle rest area guidelines updated

Austroads has published an update to the Guidelines for the Provision of Heavy Vehicle Rest Area Facilities. The updated edition includes:

new guidance relating to heavy vehicles transporting dangerous goods
the capacity of heavy vehicle rest areas to accommodate Oversize/Overmass (OSOM) vehicles
additional minor amendments.

Have your say on the Guide to Asset Management

Austroads is seeking your feedback on the Guide to Asset Management to ensure future content, workshops and webinars are helpful and target your requirements.

Your input will be provided to the Assets Task Force and Australian Road Research Board .

Complete the survey

Upcoming Austroads webinars

General Conditions of Contract for Construction - National Capital Works 4 (NCW4) 25 July 2019, 1pm AEST

This webinar will give you an overview of the new General Conditions of Contract for Construction - National Capital Works 4 (NCW4), released by Austroads and the Australian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC). It will be beneficial if you are involved in procuring public infrastructure, preparing tenders or contracts, or managing construction contracts.

Webinar: Development of a Sprayed Seal Binder Cracking Test, 8 August 2019, 1pm AEST

This webinar will give you an overview of an Austroads project that developed a new sprayed seal binder cracking test and compared the performance of polymer modified binders (PMBs). While there are well established laboratory tests to measure the cracking performance of binders in asphalt mixes, before this project there was not an established test that could rank the low temperature cracking performance of binders in sprayed seals.

No charge but registration is essential.

Can’t make the live session? Register and we’ll send you a link to the recording.

Latest webinar recordings

Webinar: Opportunities in Artificial Intelligence Applied to Road Network Operations
This webinar, presented on 16 July 2019, provides an overview of the opportunities to apply artificial intelligence to road network operations.

Webinar: Relationships Between Cutter Oil Properties and Sprayed Seal Performance
This webinar, presented on 11 July 2019, provides an overview of an Austroads project that compared the test properties of seven commercially available cutter oils with their sprayed seal performance.

Webinar: Austroads Guide to Asset Management
This webinar, presented on 4 July 2019, provides an overview of the 2018 edition of the Austroads Guide to Asset Management.

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

TCA advertises General Manager position

A position is available at TCA for General Manager Operations - visit https://tca.gov.au/tca/us/careers-at-tca for more details.

Better choice and access to Standards Australia content

Standards Australia has entered into a new distribution arrangement with global publishing brand, Techstreet, to deliver better choice and access to users of its content in Australia.

The new agreement means Techstreet will securely distribute Standard Australia’s content through a new webstore (available via the Standards Australia website). You can subscribe on the Techstreet Enterprise website.

Techstreet has served the standards community for more than 22 years, with more than 150 organisations responsible for publishing standards delivering content through its secure, easy-to-use platforms.

Find out more

Australian Government issues paper on using hydrogen for transport fuel

The Australian Government has issued a series of issues papers seeking feedback on the National Hydrogen Strategy.

Issues paper 8 explores the benefits and risks of using hydrogen as a transport fuel in Australia by 2030.

There are a number of questions at the end of the issues paper the government is seeking feedback on from road agencies and the road industry.

The closing date for submissions is 28 July 2019.

World Road Association updates

Austroads currently has full or corresponding representatives on 15 World Road Association technical committees. Representatives are members of, or have a close working relationship with, an Austroads Task Force or working group.

Adaptation Strategies and Resiliency

The Adaptation Strategies and Resiliency Technical Committee met in Oslo in May.

Two reports were finalised and will be released at the World Congress to be held in Abu Dhabi in October. These reports are:

Adaptation methodologies and strategies to increase the resilience of roads to climate change – case study approach.
International climate change adaptation framework for road infrastructure

Read the meeting report by Caroline Evans, Austroads’ representative on the committee, for more information.

Performance of Transport Administration

The Performance of Transport Administration Technical Committee met in Rome in May.

The meeting included a mini summit on preparing road networks for connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), and concluded there is a need to work together for cities and mobility to be harmonised and integrated.

Read Alan Colegate's meeting report for more information.

Other recent research

BITRE: Road deaths Australia—monthly bulletins

This bulletin contains current counts and summaries of road crash deaths and fatal road crashes in Australia. It is produced monthly and 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.

Download the June 2019 report