Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for May.
RoadWatch: Roundup
May 2021
Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for May. Discover our latest news, published reports, Guide updates, webinars and events.
Assessing Fitness to Drive review 2021
An update to Assessing Fitness to Drive has been released for public consultation by the National Transport Commission (NTC).
The NTC is reviewing Assessing Fitness to Drive (AFTD) in collaboration with Austroads. An updated version is planned for release later this year.
To participate in the review, read the latest draft of AFTD and the review report and respond to some or all the questions outlined in the review report.
Submissions close on 11 June 2021.
New pavement marking test method and technical specification released
Austroads has published a new Technical Specification and Test Method related to pavement markings.
Austroads Technical Specification ATS 4110 sets out the performance based requirements for the application of longitudinal pavement marking, audio-tactile pavement marking and temporary pavement markers.
Austroads Test Method AGPT/T800 defines the procedure for performing field assessment of pavement marking retroreflectivity and a suitable minimum sampling requirement for all longitudinal and transverse pavement marking types.
Improving the design of pavement rehabilitation and strengthening treatments
Austroads has published research undertaken to identify opportunities to improve the pavement rehabilitation and strengthening treatment design procedures included in Austroads Guide to Pavement Technology.
Ross Guppy, Austroads Transport Infrastructure Program Manager says the new mechanistic-empirical procedure, published in the Guide to Pavement Technology Part 5 in 2019, was a significant improvement, but work is still needed.
“Improved pavement rehabilitation design approaches will support Austroads’ member organisations to deliver an improved road transport network across Australasia.”
Thursday, 24 June 2021, 1-2 pm AEST
Join the session for an overview presented by James Allen, Dr Didier Bodin and Dr Geoff Jameson.
Next generation pavement performance data collection
Austroads has released an evaluation of emerging technology designed to collect road pavement performance data.
Ross Guppy, Austroads Transport Infrastructure Program Manager, says the increasing pace of technological change is promising more data, of a higher quality, captured for a lower cost.
“This has the potential to improve the way we manage roads assets, but the benefits are not automatic. Asset managers can find it difficult to know what technology is available and how their benefits compare to costs.”
Tuesday, 22 June 2021, 1-2 pm AEST
Join the team of authors for a discussion about the report.
New resource for future vehicle technology trials now online
Austroads has published a set of curated lessons learned from Connected Vehicle, Automated Vehicle and Low Emission Vehicle trial projects.
Vibeke Matthews, Austroads acting Future Vehicles and Technology Program Manager, said each case study details the project objectives and findings along with links to reports and websites to find further information. They also include the technologies used in the trial, the types of locations, the scale and the project stage.
"The online resource will expand over time and capture some of the ground-breaking work undertaken in Australia and New Zealand,” Vibeke said.
We are planning a webinar to introduce the new online case studies of future vehicle technology trials and highlight two of the trial projects. Register your interest and we’ll email you when the details have been finalised.
Celebrating Austroads community milestones
We are celebrating new milestones – Austroads' LinkedIn community now has more than 10,000 followers and we are on the verge of signing up 50,000 subscribers to our newsletters.
We would like to thank everyone who follows us every day on social media and reads our newsletters. We appreciate your time, comments and discussions you generate on LinkedIn as well as all the "Likes" that you give our publications, webinars and projects.
These milestones are an encouragement for us to continue to share information and best-practice knowledge to assist transport professionals in their work.
If you haven’t already, join Austroads' LinkedIn or sign up for our newsletter.
Introducing NEC Contracts in Australia
The Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) will run a webinar to provide an overview of the NEC4 Suite of Contracts which builds upon the success of the NEC3 Contracts.
The NEC Contracts have been updated and streamlined following feedback from the industry, considering Government priorities and emerging best practice. The result is a contract suite with improved flexibility, clarity and which is easier to use. NEC4 enables users to deliver projects on time, on budget and to the highest standards.
Wednesday, 2 June 2021, 1-2.30 pm AEST
Free event, hosted by the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council. For more information contact the APCC on +61 2 6285 2255 or info@apcc.gov.au.
PIARC Road Tunnels committee meeting
Road Tunnels Technical Committee 4.4 held its third meeting in the 2020-2023 cycle of the World Road Association (PIARC) in April 2021.
The committee addresses the construction and maintenance of tunnels as well as future use of data-driven approaches for preventive and/or predictive maintenance. It also investigates best-practice approaches and successful solutions for the safe operation of heavily traffic urban tunnels and the impact of new propulsion technologies on tunnel operation and safety.
There is no charge for our webinars, but registration is essential. It will allow us to send you a link to the recording if you can’t make the live session.
An Overview of the New Guide to Road Design Parts 1 and 7 | Register
Tuesday 25 May 2021, 1 pm AEST
Register for this session to learn about the new Part 1: Objectives of Road Design and Part 7: New and Emerging Treatments of the Guide to Road Design and how they are linked to other Austroads guides as well as jurisdictional supplements.
Options for Managing the Impacts of Aged Heavy Vehicles | Register
Thursday 27 May 2021, 1 pm AEST
The oldest trucks are associated with higher environmental and health costs than newer trucks, yet these have been poorly quantified to date. Take part in this session to hear about the measures that have been used to manage the impacts of aged heavy vehicles in Australasia and internationally.
Introducing NEC Contracts in Australia | Register
Wednesday 2 June 2021, 1 pm AEST
Join the session run by the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council for an overview of the NEC4 Suite of Contracts, which have been updated following feedback from the industry and considering government priorities and emerging best practice.
Webinar series | Development and Justification of Asset Preservation and Renewal
Report Overview | Thursday 3 June 2021, 1 pm AEST | Register
Overview of a report Prolonging the Life of Road Assets Under Increasing Demand: A Framework and Tools for Informing the Development and Justification of Asset Preservation and Renewal.
Framework and Tools | Wednesday, 9 June 2021, 1 pm AEST | Register
A detailed explanation of the framework, tools and case studies, and how asset management practitioners can apply these in their day-to-day work.
Investment and Decision Making | Friday, 18 June 2021, 1 pm AEST | Register
An explanation of the broad framework and the economic and customer centred basis for justifying appropriate levels of investment in road asset preservation and renewal.
Design and Construction Guidelines for the Delivery of Large Cantilever and Gantry Structures | Register
Tuesday, 22 June 2021, 1 pm AEST
Join this webinar for an overview of a research report on next generation data collection technologies for road pavement assets to understand the emerging technologies available, the cost-effectiveness of these technologies, and the implications of transitioning from existing to new approaches.
Next generation Asset Data Collection: Road Pavement Performance | Register
Tuesday, 22 June 2021, 1 pm AEST
Join this webinar for an overview of a research report on next generation data collection technologies for road pavement assets to understand the emerging technologies available, the cost-effectiveness of these technologies, and the implications of transitioning from existing to new approaches.
Strategy for an Improved Mechanistic-empirical Flexible Pavement Treatment Design | Register
Thursday, 24 June 2021, 1 pm AEST
Learn about a strategy for future improvement of the mechanistic-empirical procedure used in pavement rehabilitation and strengthening treatment design. The webinar will present future research direction derived from the review of national and international literature and road agency best practice.
Paving our ways
Provides an in-depth summary of a new book on the evolution of the world’s pavements from the earliest human settlements to the present day.
Austroads Technical Specifications for Roadworks and Bridgeworks
Presents Austroads' recent work on the development of new technical specifications for roadworks and bridgeworks.
Network Operation Planning – Case Studies and Capability Building
Outlines the Reference Material Library to help practitioners looking to develop or evolve NOP processes.
BITRE research
BITRE's monthly bulletin contains current counts and summaries of road crash deaths and fatal road crashes in Australia. Data are sourced from the road traffic or police authorities in each jurisdiction.
You can also view monthly updated road safety statistics and an Australian Road Deaths Database.
Upcoming industry events
Event organisers are carefully reviewing their arrangements to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Please be aware that details may change at short notice.
Air Quality in Unprecedented Times CASANZ Transport Special Interest Group Workshop (online), 19 May 2021
ARRB Crash Scene Investigation, Melbourne, 19 May 2021
2021 Roads Australia Transport Summit, Sydney, 17-18 June 2021
AITPM National Traffic and Transport Conference, Brisbane, 29-30 July 2021
AfPA 2021 International Flexible Pavements Symposium "Roads going full circle" (online), 3-5 August 2021
2021 Engineering, Innovation, and Technology Forum, Brisbane, 24-26 August 2021
MEGATRANS: Reimagining the supply chain, Melbourne, 8-10 September 2021
2021 Australasian Road Safety Conference, Melbourne, 28-30 September 2021
ADVI Summit, Sydney, 18-19 October 2021
IPWEA International Public Works Conference, Adelaide, 31 October-4 November 2021
ARRB Symposium "Integrated Mobility Impacts 2021", Melbourne, 17-19 November 2021
