RoadWatch: Roundup

August 2019

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

Opportunities in Mobility as a Service

"If designed appropriately, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a chance to progressively rethink the overall transport offering based on services rather than vehicle ownership,” says Richard Delplace, Austroads Network Program Manager.

MaaS is the concept of seamlessly integrating available transport modes and services to allow customers to plan, undertake and pay for their door-to-door journey through one mobile app, using as many transport services as they need.

“The concept of MaaS, sometimes also referred to as ‘combined transport‘, has developed over the last 4-5 years from the leadership of northern European countries like Sweden and Finland," says Richard.

“With the emergence of on-demand transport solutions such as ride hailing, bike sharing and car sharing accessible as a service, the way public infrastructure and transport services are planned, operated, regulated and funded is being challenged.

Opportunities in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) presents ways the public sector can influence the evolution of MaaS to meet sustainable and responsible societal outcomes by developing an integrated mobility strategy, supporting new business models, and managing the impacts on existing and planned public transport infrastructure and services.”

Read more | Download the report

Join us for a webinar on Tuesday 3 September 2019, 1pm AEST for an overview of the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and the opportunities it presents for transport agencies in Australia and New Zealand, by the report author Mary Haverland.

No charge but registration essential.

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

Strategies to manage congestion in Australia and New Zealand

Case Studies of Critical Learnings in Network Operations, Congestion Management Relief Initiatives and Planned Activities presents key initiatives Australian and New Zealand road and transport agencies are implementing to deal with the growing issue of congestion in major cities and regional centres.

“Agencies use a very diverse range of treatments and operational improvements to tackle their traffic congestion,” says Richard Delplace, Austroads Network Program Manager and co-author of the report.

“Key trends include ’sweating’ existing assets and infrastructure by using technology for real-time network operations such as smart motorways schemes, and investing in data acquisition, analytics and visualisation to evaluate events and conditions and ultimately design more informed congestion management strategies.

Read more | Download the report

New Guide Part supports road agencies in retrofitting tunnels

There is an increasing need for tunnels to be retrofitted rather than maintained, due to excessive congestion on roads around tunnels, deteriorating structures, technological improvements and demand for higher standards of safety.

As a result, Austroads has produced a new Part to its Guide to Road Tunnels to support road agencies when they are retrofitting or refurbishing tunnels, or replacing assets in tunnels, in Australia and New Zealand.

“Part 4: Retrofitting Tunnels provides guidance on when refurbishment is needed and the types of refurbishment that can be considered,” says Les Louis, principal author and ARRB Associate. “The Guide provides processes for developing project requirements, geometric considerations relating to cross-sections, and information on traffic management functions including signs and lighting.

Read more | Download the report

Join us for a free webinar on Thursday 29 August 2019, 1pm AEST for an overview of the new Guide to Road Tunnels Part 4: Retrofitting Tunnels by the Guide author Les Louis. The webinar will cover the requirements for developing a project to upgrade a road tunnel or its components .

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

Part 5 of Guide to Pavement Technology updated to reflect recent research

Much recent research conducted by Austroads and other agencies has focused on improving design methods for road pavement strengthening treatments, to enhance the cost-effectiveness of rehabilitating pavements. As a result, Part 5 of Austroads Guide to Pavement Technology has been updated to incorporate the results of this research.

Part 5: Pavement Evaluation and Treatment Design covers pavement investigation, testing and evaluation; identifies causes and modes of distress; and describes treatment options. It has not been updated since 2011, during which time technologies and treatments have been superseded by improved methods.

“In 2017, Austroads changed the structural design method for new flexible pavements, which is described in Part 2 of Guide to Pavement Technology: Pavement Structural Design,” says Geoff Jameson, Chief Technology Leader, ARRB and project author. “This revision of Part 5 aligns the structural design of rehabilitation treatments with this method.”

Read more | Download the report

Join us for a free webinar on Thursday 22 August 2019, 1pm AEST for an overview of this study by the Guide author Geoff Jameson. No charge but registration essential.

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

Congratulations Jothi Ramanujam, 2019 Professional Engineer of the Year

Austroads would like to congratulate Jothi Ramanujam (Rama) who has been awarded the prestigious Engineers Australia’s 2019 Professional Engineer of the Year – Queensland award.

With 46 years of experience in road construction, design and rehabilitation, Rama has made significant contributions to several Austroads technical and research reports on pavement rehabilitation, and his work informed the development of Design and Performance of Foamed Bitumen Stabilised Pavements and other reports. He has also undertaken pioneering work on foam bitumen stabilisation and hot in place asphalt recycling for Austroads.

Rama is Director (Pavements Rehabilitation) for the Department of Transport and Main Roads, and is an international consultant in countries including Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Nigeria and Brunei.

Richard Delplace a panelist at next generation network webinar

Austroads' Network Program Manager, Richard Delplace, is one of the panelists at the ITS Australia webinar: Next-gen network management 2: Government perspectives on Wednesday 21 August from 12.30 to 1:15 pm AEST.

Register for the webinar

Upcoming Austroads webinars

Guide to Pavement Technology Part 5: Pavement Evaluation and Treatment Design, Thursday 22 August, 1pm AEST
Austroads has published an updated edition of the Guide to Pavement Technology Part 5.This webinar will provide an overview of the key changes to the Guide and the significant advances in the thickness design of structural treatments for flexible road pavements.

Guide to Road Tunnels Part 4: Retrofitting Tunnels
Thursday 29 August, 1pm AEST
This webinar will give you an overview of the new Guide to Road Tunnels Part 4: Retrofitting Tunnels and the requirements for developing a project to upgrade a road tunnel or its components.

Opportunities in Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
Tuesday 3 September, 1pm AEST
This webinar will give you an overview of the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and the opportunities it presents for transport agencies in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).

Dangerous Goods in Tunnels
Thursday 12 September, 1pm AEST
This webinar will give you an overview of a recent Austroads project examining the passage of dangerous goods through Australasian road tunnels and a brief overview of continuing studies on this topic.

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: Development of a Sprayed Seal Binder Cracking Test
This webinar, presented on 8 August 2019, provides an overview of an Austroads project that developed a new sprayed seal binder cracking test and compared the performance of polymer modified binders (PMBs).

Webinar: General Conditions of Contract for Construction - National Capital Works 4 (NCW4)
This webinar, presented on 25 July 2019, provides 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).

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

Register now for the IPWEA Professional Certificate in Asset Management Planning

The nine-week online IPWEA Professional Certificate in Asset Management Planning is delivered through seven 90-minute modules. It begins on Monday 19 August but registrations will be accepted until early September.

Course participants use their own organisation’s data to prepare an asset management plan using hands-on tools and templates developed by industry experts. Live Q&A and an interactive discussion forum over the nine weeks of the course enable participating road and transport infrastructure managers to be mentored by practitioners with experience in strategic asset management in the public and private sectors.

The certificate is recognised by the public works and engineering industry for its practical learning outcomes.

Register now

PhD opportunity at SPARC

The Smart Pavements Australia Research Collaboration (SPARC) is inviting applications for a PhD-position in evaluating the application of smart geotextiles in smart road infrastructure.

Closing date for applications: Friday 23 August 2019, 11:55 pm AEST

Austroads is providing financial and in-kind support to SPARC projects over the next 5 years.

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.

Congratulations to Austroads representative, Alan Colegate, who was appointed Secretary of Technical Committee A.1: Performance of Transport Administration, in July 2019.

Sustainable Multimodality in Urban Regions

This PIARC report reflects the richness of approaches, the diverse situations that are the result of the history and the culture of each country, and the complex challenges faced by road administrations in the different urban regions, whether they are developing or industrialised countries.

Security of Road Infrastructure

This PIARC report aims to raise awareness and encourage road agencies to take a more active role in the security of their infrastructure, and provide a concrete theoretical background and a sample methodology on how security can be embedded.

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.

The July 2019 monthly bulletin, due for publication this month, has been delayed due to an issue with a data supplier. Visit bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/road_deaths_australia_monthly_bulletins.aspx for updates

BITRE: Road trauma Australia—annual summaries

This report is the latest in a series of annual road crash statistical reports. It presents annual counts of deaths, fatal crashes, injuries and standardised rates over the last ten years

BITRE: Electric vehicle uptake: Modelling a global phenomenon

This report describes an approach to estimating likely electric vehicle uptake for 22 countries around the world. Models of electric vehicle uptake were derived for Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.