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AustroadsNews | November 2017
Welcome to the November 2017 edition of AustroadsNews. If you have been forwarded this email you can subscribe here to receive future updates.
Contents
Austroads publishes 2016-17 annual report
New research underlines the importance of automated driving to reduce road trauma
Traffic studies and analysis guidance updated
Tunnels Task Force inspect Adelaide's O-Bahn project
Con-Ops best practice in network operations planning
New foamed bitumen stabilisation test methods
New national guidelines for weighing oversize overmass vehicles
Geopolymer concrete confirmed for field applications
Webinar: Road transport management framework and principles
Webinar: Intersections
ARSC2017 wrap up
BITRE Reports
Upcoming workshops + conferences
Austroads publishes 2016-17 annual report
The report provides a detailed review of the strategic focus of each Austroads Program as well as the projects completed and progressed during the year.
At a glance, in 2016-17 Austroads:
- invested $12.4m in our roads related research work program, contracting 40 organisations to deliver our work program including $6.9m in infrastructure design and testing, $3.6m in road safety, $1.6m in road network management and $200K in connected and automated vehicles
- undertook work in 125 projects, completing 46 during the year
- published 226 papers, reports and updates to the Austroads Guides (with 340,000 publications sold and downloaded)
- enabled 135m driver licence and vehicle registration database transactions via the National Exchange of Vehicle Data Information Service (NEVDIS).
New research underlines the importance of automated driving to reduce road trauma
Road trauma in Australia and New Zealand could be significantly reduced by the adoption of rapidly developing technologies that change the way drivers use vehicles, research published by Austroads has found.
The ‘Safety Benefits of Cooperative ITS and Automated Driving’ report, completed by the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) and funded by Austroads, investigated the benefits of key Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) and automated driving applications.
Austroads Chief Executive, Nick Koukoulas said the “report draws on an in-depth examination of data to understand whether real-world serious injury crashes in Australia and New Zealand could have been prevented if technologies such as forward collision warning, curve speed warning, intersection movement assist, right turn assist, lane keeping assist and auto emergency braking were fitted in all light passenger vehicles”.
The report also estimated the potential annual savings to serious injuries Australia and New Zealand-wide. Road trauma is one of the highest ranking public health issues in both countries. Each year, crashes result in almost 1,300 people killed and 35,500 hospitalised in Australia. In New Zealand, 319 people were killed and 12,270 injured in 2015.
The video link above is to a webinar describing the research and its outcomes held in late October.
Traffic studies and analysis guidance updated
Austroads has published an updated edition of the Guide to Traffic Management Part 3: Traffic Studies and Analysis.
The Guide is concerned with the collection and analysis of traffic data for the purpose of managing and controlling traffic within a network. It serves as a means to ensure some degree of consistency in conducting traffic studies and surveys. It provides guidance on the different types of traffic studies and surveys that can be undertaken, their use and application, and methods for traffic data collection and analysis.
Webinar: Join Guide author Clarissa Han for an online overview of the updates on 30 November 2017. No charge but regsitration essential. Register now
Tunnels Task Force inspect Adelaide's O-Bahn
In October, the Austroads Tunnels Task Force met in Adelaide to progress their current research projects and plan their 2018-19 work program.
The team also took the opportunity to visit the O-Bahn City Access Project. The $160 million project will extend Adelaide's O-Bahn system and includes a dedicated 670 metre bus tunnel.
The project is due to be completed by the end of 2017.
Pictured left to right are: Kingsley Noble, Nigel Casey, Tony Peglas, Jo Hill, Richard Yeo, Dave Gammon , Bob Allen, Noel O'Callaghan, Mark Castelli, Nooru Mohamed and John Venables.
Con-Ops best practice in network operations planning
Austroads has published new guidelines to help network operations planning staff develop a Concept of Operations (ConOps), a best practice resource.
Having well planned and implemented processes in place to operate the road network is a priority for government and network operations planning is a fundamental reason why road authorities exist.
Network operations planning has come a long way in a relatively short time and is now an integral part of operating the road network in many jurisdictions. As confidence has grown in the process, several cities throughout Australia and New Zealand are using it to assess network changes and understand the benefits from proposed investments.
While network operations planning is growing, there is a perceived disconnect between those who work at the strategic end of the process and those involved in the tactical or operational day-to-day end. Roles and responsibilities are not always clear and defined, feedback loops not always transparent, and stakeholders seem to have relatively low visibility of what goes on at each end of the process and the respective challenges faced by those people who operate the road network.
A ConOps would bridge the gap and provide a best practice resource for all those involved in network operations planning.
Webinar: Join the report author, Mark Rowland for a webinar on Tuesday 21 November. No charge but registration is essential. Register now
New foamed bitumen stabilisation test methods
Austroads has published four new foamed bitumen stabilisation test methods. Foamed bitumen stabilisation is used to improve the strength of granular materials while retaining a flexible pavement.
In the process, foamed bitumen is produced by injecting small amounts of water and air into standard road-grade bitumen at high pressure. This results in the bitumen expanding to around 20 times its original volume.
Foaming of bitumen allows it to be evenly distributed throughout a soil or a granular material. It can be mixed on site or in plants.
The test methods provide consistent ways to determine the foaming characteristics of bitumen and mix it with pavement materials. They also describe the procedure for compacting cylindrical test specimens and testing mixes.
Test Method Links:
- Determining the Foaming Characteristics of Bitumen
- Mixing of Foamed Bitumen Stabilised Materials
- Compaction of Test Cylinders of Foamed Bitumen Stabilised Materials Part 1: Dynamic Compaction using Marshall Drop Hammer
- Resilient Modulus of Foamed Bitumen Stabilised Materials
New national guidelines for weighing oversize overmass vehicles
Austroads has published draft guidelines for the weighing of oversized and overmass (OSOM) vehicle combinations using portable scales.
The existing Austroads guidelines for weighing heavy vehicles do not address the weighing of OSOM vehicles and this project aimed to develop a nationally-consistent procedure for assessing the mass of OSOM vehicles and develop Mass Measurement Adjustment (MMA) factors applicable to OSOM vehicles.
The report describes the conduct of field trials involving repeated weighing of four different OSOM vehicle combinations and analysis to determine the level of accuracy to be expected during roadside inspections.
Webinar: Join co-authors Anthony Germanchev and Philip Roper for an online overview of the guidelines on 12 December 2017. No charge but registration essential. Register now!
Geopolymer concrete confirmed for field applications
Austroads has published the results of an experimental phase of a project to review the specifications and use of geopolymer concrete.
The results indicate that acceptable grades of structural and non-structural geopolymer concrete can be made for field applications.
This phase of the project involved formulating and testing geopolymer recipes for their workability, setting time, strength development, mechanical behaviour, durability properties and abrasion resistance.
Webinar: Road transport management framework and principles
This webinar, presented on 26 October 2017, provides an overview of current and contemporary road transport management practices in Australasia and a harmonised framework.
Our presenters outlined:
- 15 management principles and their connectivity within the road transport management framework
- relevance of the principles to integrated transport system planning and infrastructure asset development life cycle.
Presented by Dr Aut Karndacharuk and Asif Hassan.
Webinar: Intersections
The webinar, presented on 6 November 2017, provides an overview of the key changes to:
- Guide to Traffic Management Part 6: Intersections, Interchanges and Crossings
- Guide to Road Design Part 4: Intersections and Crossings – General
- Guide to Road Design Part 4A: Unsignalised and Signalised Intersections.
The 2017 editions update previous Austroads guidance and presents the latest practices and guidelines for the selection and design of intersections including the latest Safe System practice.
This webinar was presented by Peter Aumann and Lisa Steinmetz.
ARSC2017 Wrap Up
The Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2017) was held in Perth from Tuesday to Thursday 10-12 October 2017.
This year's conference brought more than 650 delegates together for three days to combat road trauma.
Austroads is a founding member of the conference and works in partnership with the Australasian College of Road Safety to develop the conference program which is hosted by jurisdictions (Sydney 2018).
This year, Austroads coordinated a plenary session where jurisdictions presented on road safety achievements. Austroads sessions also covered the direction being taken through Austroads Safety Program research, the Board priority project SSP2068 (Road Cross-Section Design for Road Stereotypes), the Austroads role in development of ANRAM over the last 20 years which will aid network decision making, and the Austroads research which has assessed the contribution of new technology to vehicle safety.
BITRE Reports
Road deaths Australia—monthly bulletins
Released mid month - Latest October 2017
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.
Upcoming Workshops + Conferences
IRF World Road Meeting | 14-17 November 2017, Delhi, India
Austroads Webinar: Guide to Traffic Management Part 13: Road Safety Environment (2017 Edition) | 16 November 2017, online
ADVI 2nd International Driverless Vehicle Summit | 16-17 November 2017, Adelaide, South Australia
NEW Austroads Webinar: Current Practice and Developments in Concept of Operation | 21 November 2017, online
NEW Austroads Webinar: Guide to Traffic Management Part 3: Traffic Studies and Analysis (2017 Edition) | 30 November 2017, online
NEW Austroads Webinar: Development of National Mass Assessment Procedures for Oversize Overmass Vehicles | 12 December 2017
28th Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) International Conference | 29 April - 2 May 2018, Brisbane, Queensland
World Road Association's 8th Symposium on Pavement Surface Characteristics: SURF 2018 | 2-4 May 2018, Brisbane, Queensland
IABMAS 2018 | 9-13 July 2018, Melbourne, Victoria
NEW Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2017) | 3-5 October 2018, Sydney New South Wales
