Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for March.
RoadWatch: Roundup
March 2021
Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for March. Discover our latest news, published reports, Guide updates, webinars and events.
Austroads accelerates project on the use of recycled materials in roads
The Austroads Board was updated on the progress of five projects focusing on the use of recycled materials in roads when they met on 4 February 2021.
A project has been accelerated to develop a performance-based specification for a road-grade plastic polymer sourced from recycled plastic manufacturers and material recovery facilities. The work is being undertaken by RMIT and the specification will now be delivered in early 2022.
Interim Guidelines for the Use of Recycled Plastics in Local Government Road Surfacing Applications will be released soon. The guideline will identify the types of recycled plastic in Australia and provide councils with advice about their procurement for use in road surfacings. Other projects will focus on the use of crushed glass in road infrastructure, and provide specifications for the use of crumb rubber in asphalt and seals.
In addition to hearing project updates, the Board approved the establishment of a dedicated Task Force for temporary traffic management projects.
Network Operations Planning library released
Austroads has reviewed the current Network Operations Planning practices across its member agencies and developed an online library of Network Operations Planning guidance and case studies to support the practice going forward.
Network operation planning aims to guide the operation and development of the road network while considering competing transport and land use priorities.
“The library highlights the potential benefits of Network Operations Planning based on latest jurisdictional experience. To showcase how the NOP framework can be used to meet a range of needs, the library focusses on intent and options, supported by case studies,” said Richard Delplace, Austroads Transport Network Operations Program Manager.
Access: Network Operations Planning Library
Download: Network Operation Planning: Case Studies and Capability Building
Thursday, 22 April 2021, 1-2 pm AEDT
Join Will Fooks and Alex Blackett from GTA, for an overview of the project and an introduction to the library content.
Austroads’ research cemented in world pavement history
Austroads’ research on pavement design, materials and technology has been embedded in the international history of road paving.
A new book “Paving Our Ways” examines the evolution of the world’s pavements from the earliest human settlements in Egypt and Mesopotamia moving to North Africa, Crete, Greece and Italy and then exploring pavement development aspects of the present day.
Austroads research is referenced in the book and a webinar will be hosted with the authors Dr Maxwell Lay, Dr John Metcalf and Kieran Sharp. All authors formerly worked for the Australian Road Research Board.
Thursday, 13 May 2021, 1-2 pm AEDT
Join Dr Maxwell Lay, Dr John Metcalf and Kieran Sharp for an overview of the book. Will be of interest for general and technically oriented audience as well as students of engineering and transport.
More than 2000 people from 13 countries attended Austroads’ webinars on pedestrian guidance
An audience of 2184 traffic engineering, road design and road safety practitioners tuned in to a series of Austroads’ webinars in February and March 2021 to learn about the best-practice approaches to road space allocation and street design for pedestrians.
Attendees were from all Australian states and territories as well as from Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, the UK and US.
The webinars were based on the Austroads report Updating Austroads Pedestrian Planning and Design Guidance in line with International Best Practice and facilitated by the report authors, Abley’s Ann-Marie Head and Jeanette Ward.
Strong focus on improving pedestrian safety and amenity in the design guidelines and the role of active travel in transport planning were highlighted by the participants as some of the most important learnings from the webinars’ content.
“Creating a greater priority for active travel and public transport in our car-designed cities is now the major challenge for urban planning,” noted one of the webinar attendees.
“It is heartening to see a series devoted to pedestrians,” commented another participant.
The recordings of the sessions were viewed more than 700 times. Click on the links below to watch the webinars and download presentation materials.
Guidance for project managers overseeing traffic modelling projects
In response to industry and member agencies feedback, Austroads has revised and published updated guidance for practitioners managing traffic modelling consultants.
The updates to the report, which now has an updated title “Management of Traffic Modelling Processes and Applications”, include clarification of the purpose of the report and its target audience, revision and update of specific technical information and additional acknowledgements that the report is reflective of the research and information at the time of development.
The guidance included in the report is not intended to replace jurisdictional guidelines but complement them.
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.
Freeway Capacity Analysis | Register
Tuesday, 16 March 2021, 1 pm AEDT
Hear about the latest research and practices in freeway capacity analysis and recommendations for updating relevant Austroads guidance.
On-Road Public Transport Priority Tool | Register
Tuesday, 23 March 2021, 1 pm AEDT
Join this webinar to learn about the Austroads On-Road Public Transport Priority Tool and how it can be used to select appropriate ORPT priority treatments for any road scenario.
Engineering Guideline to Bridge Asset Management | Register
Wednesday, 24 March 2021, 1 pm AEDT
This webinar will take you through a detailed asset management framework for bridges providing examples underpinned by risk management protocols in keeping with ISO 31000.
Revision of Austroads Guide to Road Tunnels Part 2 | Register
Thursday, 25 March 2021, 1 pm AEDT
Register for this session to find out about the changes made to Part 2 of the Guide to Road Tunnels in relation to planning, design and commissioning. You will also learn about new material added to the guide, particularly, in the section of Systems Engineering.
Network Operations Planning – Case Studies and Capability Building | Register
Thursday, 22 April 2021, 1 pm AEDT
Austroads has led a review to understand current practices around the use of Network Operations Plans (NOP) and produced an online Reference Material Toolkit. Join the session to learn about the findings of the review and how to use the toolkit to develop your NOP processes.
Paving Our Ways | Register
Thursday, 13 May 2021, 1 pm AEDT
This webinar will present a book “Paving Our Ways”, which references Austroads’ research and provides a comprehensive international history of the world’s pavements, running from the earliest human settlements to the present day.
Design and Construction Guidelines for the Delivery of Large Cantilever and Gantry Structures | Register
Tuesday, 8 June 2021, 1 pm AEDT
There have been a number of incidents of structural failures of sign and high mast lighting structures across Australia and New Zealand. This session will equip you with the knowledge of best practice for design and construction of these structures.
Funding for women's leadership development available
To help encourage more women to step into leadership across the Transport and Logistics industry, Women & Leadership Australia is offering scholarships to enable participation in one of three leadership development courses designed for emerging through to senior leaders.
Grants of between $1,000 and $5,000 per person are available to women across all states and territories. Expressions of Interest close on 19 April 2021.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
In this research transport modelling, based on several assumptions about micro-mobility, suggested higher usage of shared paths and separated cycle facilities than for forecasts of push-bikes alone. The growth in availability and ownership of micro-mobility may also lead to increase in public transport patronage as a result of first mile/last mile micro-mobility use.
BITRE research
The 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.
17th ITS Asia Pacific Forum, Brisbane, 12-15 April 2021
Australasian Tunnelling Conference, Melbourne, 10-13 May 2021
2021 Roads Australia Transport Summit, Sydney, 17-18 June 2021
AITPM National Traffic and Transport Conference, Brisbane, 29-30 July 2021
AAPA 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, 19-20 October 2021
IPWEA International Public Works Conference, Adelaide, 31 October-4 November 2021
ARRB Symposium "Integrated Mobility Impacts 2021", Melbourne, 17-19 November 2021
