AustroadsNews | July 2018 

Welcome to the July 2018 edition of AustroadsNews. If you have been forwarded this email you can subscribe here to receive future updates.  

Contents

• Austroads Guides now freely available

• New Asset Management Guide embraces whole of organisation practice

• Design and performance of foamed bitumen stabilised pavements

• Using marginal and non-standard road pavement materials

• Second edition of Austroads’ Data Standard includes new data groups and priority subsets

• Bitumen sprayer calibration test methods updated

• New principles for the presentation of network performance data

• Join us for Webinar: Scoping Study for a Location Referencing Model to Support the BIM Environment

• New webinar recordings

• Road and transport research reports

• World Road Association technical committee update

• Become a part of WRC 2023 with our new LinkedIn page

• Infrastructure Risk Rating for Speed Management Training Workshops

• Digital Infrastructure Network Launch, Sydney

• Australian Road Safety Conference 2018 

• Upcoming workshops + conferences

Austroads Guides now freely available

The PDFs of all Austroads' Guides are now freely available to all.

This is in preparation for our new website, due to be launched at the end of August, which will include online versions of the Austroads Guides.

When the website is launched, users will need to establish a new account to download publications and access Guides online. Your account will allow you to bookmark publications for easy return and sign up for RoadWatch Insight subject alerts to keep up-to-date with the latest Austroads webinars and publications. 

While most hard copies have now been discontinued, three hardcopy publications are still available for purchase:

• Assessing Fitness to Drive 2016
• Bituminous Materials Safety Guide
• Austroads Learning to Drive

Until the new website is launched, our Guides and other publications can be downloaded from https://www.onlinepublications.austroads.com.au/

New Asset Management Guide embraces whole of organisation practice

Asset management is a key business process in any organisation employing infrastructure networks and physical asset systems delivering services to customers. Equally importantly, asset management business processes must be integrated with other business functions, in particular finance, human resources, customer management and information technology.

Austroads’ Guide to Asset Management provides guidance to road managers on the application of contemporary ‘whole of organisation’ asset management practice to road networks.

While the term ‘asset management’ has a technical or maintenance meaning for many, there is greater recognition that a wider organisational approach is needed, a focus emphasised in the International Standard for Asset Management ISO 55001. Asset management has continued to develop as decision-makers increase their focus on the value it can bring to an organisation, and as awareness increases of the importance of risk management.

Design and performance of foamed bitumen stabilised pavements

Austroads has released the final report of a five-year project to improve the Austroads design procedures of foamed bitumen stabilised (FBS) materials and identify distress modes of FBS pavements from in-service trial sites.

The report:

• summarises the development of four improved test methods published in late 2017
• investigates the influence of compaction method, moisture content and other factors on the mix design moduli
• compares laboratory mix design moduli with those from field cores
• details the construction and performance monitoring of six trial sites in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales and describes the distress modes observed at the sites
• investigates improvements to the Austroads structural design method.

Using marginal and non-standard road pavement materials

Austroads has published a report addressing the use of marginal and non‑standard materials in road construction and maintenance. 

A major challenge facing road agencies is the increasing shortage of quality quarried materials and natural gravels for road construction and maintenance. These are finite resources, and current sources are being exhausted.

Gravel quarry products are being transported over longer distances, resulting in escalating costs for road construction and maintenance. Some agencies are now paying for access to previously-free materials. This problem has been exacerbated by the trend towards tighter environmental legislation, quarry operation legislation and land access requirements which are adding to the costs and limiting the opportunity to commission new quarries and open new gravel pits.

Second edition of Austroads’ Data Standard includes new data groups and priority subsets

Austroads has published the second version of the Data Standard for Road Management and Investment.

The Austroads Road Data Standard Project was initiated in response to requests from stakeholders who increasingly need to share data with other road agencies but are frustrated by the lack of common data definitions and formats. It will establish a harmonised road asset data standard for use in Australia and New Zealand.

The Data Standard will cater for different levels of road asset complexity and planning to ensure it can be used by all road managers (from small local councils to large state and federal agencies) and interface with existing data collection, finance, risk, and information systems.

Bitumen sprayer calibration test methods updated

Austroads has published seven updated test methods related to the calibration of bitumen sprayers.

The performance of Australia’s extensive network of surfaced roads is heavily dependent on the successful application of sprayed sealing technology, including the selection and design of the treatments, and the identification of the most appropriate applications.

Consistent high-quality sprayed sealing work requires well-defined and controlled application rates of binder and aggregate. This quality control is crucial if sprayed seals are to remain a viable surfacing option in the face of increasing traffic levels, particularly the increase in the volume and size of heavy vehicles.

Several Austroads projects have addressed the selection and design of sprayed seal treatments.

New principles for the presentation of network performance data

Austroads has released a set of principles for the presentation of network performance data to best engage users and capitalise on cross-industry best practice.

The report is based on an examination of Austroads Network Performance Indicators (NPIs) which were developed to provide a consistent basis for comparison of road network performance across Australia and New Zealand.

The NPIs, which are no longer published by Austroads, used to comprise a number of metrics including travel time, journey time reliability and safety. However, their take up and application was relatively limited.

The study considered how the NPIs could be better presented to:

• inform customer-centric planning, investment, management and operations.
• align to customer and community expectations.
• capitalise from and deliver at matching cross-industry best-practice.

Join us for Webinar: Scoping Study for a Location Referencing Model to Support the BIM Environment

Wednesday 25 July 2018 | 1pm AEST 

A recent Austroads study revisited the issue of location referencing methods (LRM) to include transferring BIM data into Asset Management Systems. The study found that all road authorities have important business drivers for their varied location referencing methods. This means that it is better to build an independent system that is able to communicate with all current and future systems, supporting both legacy systems and change.

The Austroads report outlines a new theoretical LRM framework that communicates at the primitive information level common to all: points, lines, paths and areas.

These LRMs form the proposed Primary Location Reference System for Austroads regarded as a National Hub for Location Referencing. It is designed as a platform that facilitates location information exchange for Asset Management harmonisation.

The new platform could be based on open source technology from Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). ITS uses both static and dynamic views of location, expanding the traditional static view used in Asset Management.

In this webinar, you’ll learn about the:

• importance of critical business models for Austroads asset management harmonisation
• interpretations of location, location reference methods (LRM) and location reference systems (LRS)
• roles of the LRM families
• significance of routable networks and the implications of dynamic location reference standards from intelligent transportation systems (ITS) on static asset management
• potential for development using open systems and principals-IFC, Semantic Web, OpenLRTM
• role that a National Hub could play in future management of road asset network infrastructure.

Join in a live Q&A with our presenter to ask questions about the study.

Presented by Dr Russell Kenley and Dr Richard Yeo.

No charge but registration is essential.

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

New webinar recordings 

• Appropriate Use of Marginal and Non-standard Materials in Road Construction and Maintenance
• Network Performance Indicators
• Connected and Automated Vehicles Trials
• Guideline for Continual Improvement Processes for Asset Management
• Guidelines and Specifications for Microsurfacing

Road and transport research reports

International Transport Forum reports

The Shared-Use City: Managing the Curb

May 2018 
This report discusses the street design and pricing implications of a large-scale introduction of ride-sharing services and other innovative mobility options in urban settings.

BITRE reports

Road deaths Australia—monthly bulletins

Released mid month - Latest July 2018
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.

Freightline 6—Australian rice freight transport

July 2018
The Freightline series is intended to provide information on interregional freight movements across Australia, filling a major gap in Australian transport-related data and information, to help better inform and support policy development and infrastructure planning.

World Road Association technical committee update

Austroads currently has full or corresponding representatives on 15 World Road Association technical committees.

The technical committee representatives are either members of or have a close working relationship with an Austroads Taskforce or working group. 

Road Network Operations/Intelligent Transportation Systems

The Road Network Operations/Intelligent Transportation Systems technical committee is tasked to deliver the update of the RNO-ITS Manual website, lost Cost ITS report, and big Data for Road Network Operation report.

Ian Espada, ARRB, attended the committee meeting in May 2018.

Road Tunnels Operations

The goal of Strategic Theme D 'Infrastructure' is to improve the quality and efficiency of road infrastructure through the effective management of assets in accordance with user expectations and government requirements.

The activities of the Road Tunnels Operations technical committee are divided into six working groups: Sustainable Operations, Safety, Human Factors and ITS, Vehicle Emissions, Large Underground Infrastructure, and Knowledge Management. 

George Mavroyeni, AECOM, attended the committee meeting in May/June 2018.

Become a part of WRC 2023 with our new LinkedIn page

This month, Austroads, the New South Wales Government and Business Events Sydney will advise the Permanent International Association of Road Congresses of its intention to bid for the 2023 World Road Congress.

As we build up to this huge milestone, we have also launched our new social media campaign via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrcsydney2023.

We encourage all of our members who are connected through LinkedIn to join our page and become part of the conversation. Jump on in, check out the latest pics and videos and tell us what you would like to see at a World Road Congress in 2023.

Becoming part of the conversation provides the bid team with a great opportunity to advocate far and wide with you, our best leaders and experts throughout the country. So come on board with those who already have and, together, let’s bring the bid to Sydney!

Infrastructure Risk Rating for Speed Management Training Workshops

Speed limit setting is at the core of speed management. Speed limits need to be set at a safe and appropriate level, considering the function, design and safety of the road. Infrastructure Risk Rating, initially developed in New Zealand, is a simple road assessment methodology designed to assess road safety risk at a network level, primarily as an input to the speed limit setting process.

Austroads recently commissioned research into the applicability of Infrastructure Risk Rating for use by State and Local Governments in Australia. This included developing an Infrastructure Risk Rating web tool to help road controlling agencies assess infrastructure-related road risk as an input to the speed limit setting process.

The workshop will be led by Haris Zia (Abley Limited) and will:

• include an introduction to Infrastructure Risk Rating
• provide direction as to how Infrastructure Risk Rating can be applied for Australian roads
• present the Infrastructure Risk Rating webtool, including worked examples of how to apply this tool for speed management
• facilitate a discussion on speed management and the potential of the Infrastructure Risk Rating approach for Australian roads

This workshop will be of interest to individuals responsible for speed management policy and engineering in state and local government.

Workshop details and tickets (numbers are limited) are available using the links below:

Perth:               Wednesday 12 September 2018, 9am – 12noon

Adelaide:          Thursday 13 September, 9am – 12noon

Melbourne:        Friday 14 September, 9am – 12noon

Hobart:             Monday 17 September, 9am – 12noon

Sydney:            Tuesday 18 September, 9am – 12noon

Brisbane:          Wednesday 19 September, 9am – 12noon

Digital Infrastructure Network Launch, Sydney

Thursday 26 July 2018 | 5:30pm registration for 6pm start

buildingSMART Australasia (bSA) in partnership with ARUP is launching an exciting networking event for practitioners and interested parties in Digital Engineering applications in Infrastructure. At this event you will also hear about the Future Infrastructure Conference and Webinar series as well as key initiatives in the infrastructure space from leading experts. This is an Infrastructure ‘must-attend’ event.

Attendance:
As a bSA Invited Guest, this event is FREE for you to attend, however Registration for attendance is required.

Venue: ARUP Sydney, Level 10, 201 Kent Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Ross Guppy - Assets Program Manager
AUSTROADS
Ross has over 30 years experience in the road and transport infrastructure sector, including 28 years with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR). During Ross’s time with TMR, he held various specialised engineering and senior executive roles across the technologies of Pavements, Materials, Geotechnical, Project Delivery, Asset Management, Road Design & Standards. Ross is a keen advocate for forging and maintaining strong industry relationships, and held a pivotal role in managing TMR’s liaison with academia and key industry bodies including AAPA, the ARRB Group, CCF, QMCA, Austroads, and IPWEAQ.

ARSC2018 

Sydney, 3-5 October 2018

The 2018 Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2018) will be held in Sydney from Wednesday to Friday 3-5 October 2018. The Australasian College of Road Safety, Austroads, ARRB and Transport and Road Safety Research (TARS), UNSW are proud to support the largest road safety-dedicated conference in the Southern Hemisphere.

With a theme "Towards Zero: Making it Happen!”, ARSC2018 will showcase the regions’ outstanding researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and industry spanning the issues identified in the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety:

• Road Safety Management
• Infrastructure
• Safe Vehicles
• User Behaviour
• Post-Crash Care.

Upcoming workshops + conferences

Australian Asphalt Pavement Association (AAPA) International Knowledge Transfer (IKT) outreach to Asia 2018
14 - 29 July 2018, South Korea, Japan and China

AITPM National Traffic & Transport Conference 
24 - 27 July 2018, Perth, Western Australia

NEW Austroads Webinar: Scoping Study for a Location Referencing Model to Support the BIM Environment
25 July 2018, Online (no charge, but registration is essential)

NEW Digital Infrastructure Network Launch - Sydney
26 July 2018, Sydney, New South Wales

2WALKandCYCLE Conference 
30 July - 1 August 2018, New Zealand

Australian ITS Summit 2018 
28 - 29 August 2018, Sydney, New South Wales

NEW Infrastructure Risk Rating for Speed Management Training Workshops
12 - 19 September 2018, Australia

NEW ITS World Congress
17 - 21 September 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark

Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2018) 
3 - 5 October 2018, Sydney, New South Wales

40th Australasian Transport Research Forum
30 October - 1 November 2018, Darwin, Northern Territory

National Local Roads and Transport Congress 2018
20 - 22 November 2018, Alice Springs, Northern Territory