Austroads' monthly newsletter
RoadWatch: Roundup
February 2020
Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for February. Discover our latest news, published reports, Guide updates, webinars and events.
Targeted road safety guidance for local government
Austroads has published a research report to guide local government on developing and implementing road safety management frameworks according to Safe System principles.
Local government manages approximately 82% of Australian and 88% of New Zealand road networks, accommodates around 36% of all travel in Australia and half of all travel in New Zealand, and has more than half of all crashes at a crash rate nearly double that of state-managed roads.
“Local government roads typically have lower traffic volumes than state roads, more dispersed crashes, a wider variety of road environments from high speed rural and remote roads to local streets with houses, shops, bars and schools, and a greater mix of road users including pedestrians and cyclists,” says Paul Durdin, report author. “All these factors make managing road safety on local roads challenging and this is compounded when local councils have few if any dedicated road safety staff.
The Local Government Road Safety Management Guidance provides guidance specifically for local councils, and in a simple efficient way to support local government responsibilities.”
Join us for a free webinar by report author Paul Durdin on Thursday 27 February 2020, 1pm AEDT for an overview of Austroads guidance on contemporary best practice methods for local government road safety management frameworks.
No charge but registration essential.
Can't make the live session? Register and we'll send you a link to the recording.
Reducing numbers and severity of crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists
Austroads has completed a project to better safeguard vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists, by introducing measures that integrate Safe System principles with the Movement and Place Framework to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury crashes.
The Movement and Place framework is increasingly used to guide transport planning to deliver a more integrated transport system and give more explicit recognition to the attributes of the places through which people and goods move.
The report, Integrating Safe System with Movement and Place for Vulnerable Road Users, contains guidance for Australasian jurisdictions that allows all road users to be catered for on different types of roads and streets in towns and cities.
“Transport planners, road designers, traffic engineers and system operators will find the guidance useful when designing or redesigning roads and streets, and making decisions about how these roads and streets will operate in their jurisdictions,” says report author Dr Bruce Corben. “Examples of good practice have been used from Australia and New Zealand, as well as internationally.”
Join us for a free webinar by report author Bruce Corben on Thursday 26 March 2020, 1pm AEDT for an overview of opportunities to integrate Safe System design and operation with the Movement and Place Framework to safeguard vulnerable road users, in particular pedestrians and cyclists.
No charge but registration essential.
Can't make the live session? Register and we'll send you a link to the recording.
Guidance for road operators in supporting electric vehicles on their networks
Austroads has published a research report that outlines the findings of an investigation into ways road operators in Australia and New Zealand can support the transition to electric vehicles (EVs).
Electric car sales more than tripled in Australia between 2018 and 2019, according to the Electric Vehicle Council, with 6,718 electric cars, including hybrid plug-ins, being sold nationwide last year, up from 2,216 in 2018.
“Currently the role of road operators regarding EVs varies across jurisdictions,” says David Green, report author. “It can range from a simple ‘hands‑off’ free market approach to establishing incentives to support the transition to EVs.”
Road operators manage functions such as registration and licensing, road access, road design and maintenance, road operations, road corridor planning, road signage and road operator standards, and work with other agencies and stakeholders to manage impacts on road operations. EVs have the potential to impact on these areas. In addition, in order to support the transition to EVs, new functions may emerge.
“As a result, we have divided our guidance into core and non-core areas,” says David. “We recommend all road operators adopt the core actions, and then adopt any non-core actions they see as appropriate based on how they see their role in supporting or not constraining the rollout of EVs in their jurisdictions."
Join us for a free webinar presented by Austroads' Future Vehicles and Technology Program Manager, John Wall, and report authors David Green, Mark Gjerek and Nathan Gore-Brown on Tuesday 31 March 2020, 1:00 pm AEDT to explore the actions road operators can take to support the transition to electric vehicles.
No charge but registration essential.
Can't make the live session? Register and we'll send you a link to the recording.
Inclusion of Recent Road Safety Research into the Guide to Road Design: Summary of Research Reports
This publication documents a review of 30 recent Austroads research reports, with Road Design Task Force recommendations for their incorporation into the Guide to Road Design. The reports relate to incorporating Safe System approaches, speed limit setting, road treatments to increase safety and measures to reduce crashes and casualties.
To assist in incorporating research into the Guides, a procedure has been developed for Task Forces that outlines the process from inception of the research project to amending the Guide. This process enables a consistent method to be followed and outcomes of research to be brought into practice in a timely manner.
Harmonised Austroads Technical Specifications for roadworks and bridge works
Austroads is developing a comprehensive suite of specifications for the construction of roads and bridges known as Austroads Technical Specifications. The first seven are now available, covering the supply of precast concrete pipes, polymer modified binders and geopolymer concrete, as well as the repair and strengthening of concrete structures.
“These specifications have been produced in consultation with all the jurisdictions and industry,” says Ross Guppy, Austroads Assets Program Manager.
“Having standardised construction requirements across Australia and New Zealand will lead to long term cost savings by delivering efficiencies for industry and facilitating the adoption of contemporary practice on construction projects. Other benefits include reducing the potential for disagreements during project delivery and encouraging consistent skills development for the contractor’s personnel and surveillance officers.”
Download the technical specifications:
- Repair of concrete cracks
- Supply of polymer modified binders
- Coating of concrete
- Supply of steel reinforced precast concrete pipes
- Supply of geopolymer concrete
- Cementitious patch repair of concrete
- Fibre reinforced polymer composite strengthening
Download the test methods:
Updated polymer modified binders test methods released
Austroads has published two updated test methods to safeguard people who handle polymer modified binders (PMBs) or use them in road construction. An updated PMB sample preparation protocol has also been published based on best laboratory practice.
The test methods support the recently published technical specification ATS 3110: Supply of Polymer Modified Binders that sets out the requirements for supplying polymer modified binders (PMBs) and crumb rubber modified binders for use in sprayed seals and asphalt.
Download the test methods:
National Road Safety Speed Enforcement Approach
These principles represent Australia’s strategic approach to managing enforcement of travel speeds on the nation’s roads. They form guidance and acknowledge jurisdictional variations in developing policies, programs and practices to address the role of speed in road trauma.
Upcoming Austroads webinars
Managing Sealed and Unsealed Local Roads
17 February, 1.00pm AEDT
This webinar will give you an overview of the life cycle management of local sealed and unsealed roads. It will highlight the Austroads Guides and the AUS-SPEC national local government specification system which assist local government practitioners to design, construct and maintain sealed and unsealed roads.
Local Government Road Safety Management Guidance
27 February, 1.00pm AEDT
This webinar will give you an overview of Austroads guidance on contemporary best practice methods for developing and implementing road safety management frameworks for local government.
Integrating Safe System with Movement and Place for Vulnerable Road Users
26 March, 1.00pm AEDT
This webinar will present guidance on opportunities to integrate Safe System design and operation with Movement and Place for vulnerable road users, in particular pedestrians and cyclists.
Assessment of Key Road Operator Actions to Support Electric Vehicles
31 March, 1.00pm AEDT
This webinar identifies actions road operators can take to support the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). It also clarifies the role of road operators and other government departments (e.g. energy, environment) in areas affecting EV deployment: policy, infrastructure, regulation and incentives.
Latest webinar recordings
Improving the Reliability of Heavy Vehicle Parameters to Support More Accurate Traffic Modelling in Australia and New Zealand
This webinar, presented on 9 December 2019, provides an overview of ways to more accurately model heavy vehicle movements during interrupted traffic flows in Australia and New Zealand.
Standardisation of ITS Technology Asset Management Datasets
This webinar, presented on 5 December 2019, provides an overview of the first version of the standardised condition and performance datasets for intelligent transport systems (ITS) assets.
Australasian Road Asset Data Standard – Opportunities for Local Government
This webinar, presented on 29 November 2019, outlines how local road managers can use the Australasian Road Asset Data Standard and engage with collaboration activities, to provide access to new asset management and maintenance insights with minimal impact on workload.
View all our past webinars online www.austroads.com.au/webinars.
Eddie Wheeler awarded OAM
Austroads congratulates Eddie Wheeler for his award of the Order Of Australia for service to the community through road safety initiatives.
Eddie was involved with Austroads at its inception in 1989, doing much of the hands-on coordination of Austroads' Road and Road Transport Policy Program, and being the member contact for Federal Board members Chris Thorpe and Bill Ellis.
From 1992-1996, Eddie was the Program Coordinator for Austroads' Road Safety Program. Ex-colleagues remember him fondly as someone who would go above and beyond to help others.
Eddie worked in a number of high profile positions including Secretary/Manager of the NRMA/ACT Road Safety Trust from 1999 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2017.
Austroads congratulates Eddie on the prestigious recognition and thanks him for his work to make roads safer for all users.
Call for abstracts for ARSC 2020 extended
The deadline for submitting detailed abstracts or symposium proposals for the Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC) 2020 has been extended to Monday 24 February.
ARSC 2020 will take place in Melbourne from 16–18 September. The theme is Towards Zero – a fresh approach.
Submissions should be diverse and inclusive, can cover a range of roads from national highways to remote roads, and should aim to save lives and serious injuries.
News from the Centre for Pavement Engineering Education (CPEE)
AustPADS Mechanistic Pavement Design workshop
CPEE is launching a new pavement design workshop in 2020, AustPADS Mechanistic Pavement Design. Austroads' pavement design software, AustPADS provides a methodology for analysing the response-to-load of road pavements. The workshop is for those well versed in pavement design, or who have completed any of the previous CPEE two-day Flexible Pavement Design courses.
Workshops will be held:
- Tuesday 3 March 2020: Melbourne
- Tuesday 19 May 2020: Brisbane
- Thursday 4 June 2020: Sydney
- Tuesday 1 September 2020: Perth.
Enrolments Open for Online Learning Semester 1, 2020
Postgraduate Study
Single Units
- Fundamentals of Roads and Pavements
- Pavement Construction
- Road Construction and Drainage Principles
- Pavement Renewal – Rehabilitation and Reconstruction
- Road and Pavement Maintenance
- Contracts: Principles, Management and Risks
CPEE's new initiative, Study with a Buddy, enables two employees from the same workplace to register for similar units of study, with a 20% reduction in fees for each student.
For further information, visit the CPEE website or phone +61 (03) 9890 5155.
Student Excellence Awards announced
Austroads congratulates the 2019 winners of the Student Excellence Awards in CPEE's Road & Pavement Technology and Infrastructure Asset Management categories.
Austroads provided a $500 prize and certificate of recognition to:
- Sean Coffey, Galt Geotechnics, WA, for Fundamentals of Roads & Pavements
- Shakil Mim, Campbelltown City Council, NSW and Jessica Westthorp, Adelaide Airport Limited, SA – joint winners in Road Construction & Drainage Practices.
Other successful students were:
- Emma Foster, Townsville City Council, QLD for Pavement Management Systems & Performance
- Noriko Wood, Fulton Hogan, VIC, for Road Asset Management
- Mike Auty, AECOM, NSW, for Road & Pavement Maintenance
- Robert Clifford, Hobart City Council, TAS, for Road Pavement Design
- Scott Young, Stabilised Pavements of Australia, QLD, for Pavement Construction
- Scott Smith, RMS, NSW, for Road & Pavement Surfacings.
Other recent research
BITRE: Road deaths Australia - monthly bulletins
This monthly bulletin contains current counts and summaries of road crash deaths and fatal road crashes in Australia. It is 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.
BITRE: Australian Infrastructure Statistics—Yearbook 2019
The Australian infrastructure statistics yearbook is a comprehensive source of time series statistics related to transport, energy, water and communications infrastructure. The yearbook is accompanied by the summary Key Australian Infrastructure Statistics Booklet.
Upcoming conferences
Basic Geometric Road Design Workshop, Port Melbourne 17-18 March 2020
Safer Roads 2020, Virginia, USA, 12-14 May 2020
Transport for NSW's Biennial Pavements Conference, Sydney, 27 May 2020
ITS Asia Pacific Forum, Brisbane, 25-28 May 2020
NEW AITPM National Traffic and Transport Conference, Brisbane, 28-31 July 2020
IABSE Congress, Christchurch, 2-4 September 2020
2020 Australasian Road Safety Conference, Melbourne, 16-18 September 2020
Australasian Tunnelling Conference, Melbourne, 29 November-3 December, 2020.
Austroads Bridge Conference, Adelaide, 11-14 May 2021
