RoadWatch: Roundup

September 2022

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

Benefit-cost analysis of the national harmonisation of temporary traffic management practice

An economic analysis has estimated that the Austroads’ national initiative to harmonise temporary traffic management practice would need to achieve a crash reduction at roadside worksites of approximately only 5% to achieve a benefit-cost ratio of one.

The analysis showed that implementing and operating the initiative over a 10-year period at a 4% discount rate would result in costs of around $156 million spread across Austroads, road transport agencies, registered training organisations, traffic management companies and individuals.

This effectively represents a cost of approximately 5% of the total cost of crashes and hence the benefit-cost ratio of one. This is equivalent to the total of the following annual crash reductions: 0.8 fewer fatal crashes, 11.7 fewer serious injury crashes and 25.4 fewer minor injury crashes per year.

“We are fully expecting that the work will save lives. Given the magnitude of the changes, Austroads is working carefully and closely with its members to ensure their adoption and transitional arrangements of the initiative are met,” said Geoff Allan, Austroads Chief Executive.

Read more.

Download the report.

Austroads' long-term trial delivers new insights into seal performance

Austroads recently conducted a site inspection of its ongoing testing of polymer modified binder sprayed seal road surfacings on the Stuart Highway in Coober Pedy, South Australia. 

The trial is designed to gain an in-depth understanding of the performance of different bitumen seals under real-life climatic and traffic loading conditions over the duration of the pavement surface’s life.

"This trial was initiated in 2011. We are very keen to look at long-term monitoring sites in addition to the laboratory testing. We know that in a laboratory you get good results, but they don't necessarily reflect performance onsite. Laboratory testing can't replace the cooling and heating cycles, the wet and dry cycles, the effects of the sun and oxidisation and over time these things have an impact," said Ross Guppy, Austroads' Transport Infrastructure Program Manager.

Core samples from the trial sections have been collected for over a decade, from which binder is extracted and characterised using testing devices at ARRB’s testing laboratory.

The outcomes of this trial will be presented in a report that will deliver new insights into the performance of the seals at different stages of their life. "We will use that information to build the next generation of polymer modified binder specification requirements and deterioration models for asset management."

Watch a video about the project.

Download the project reports.

Austroads Bridge Awards 2022 keynote speakers

Marcos Sanchez will join Dr Eva Lantsoght as a keynote presenter at the upcoming Austroads Bridge Conference 2022. 

Marcos is a Bridge Engineer, currently holding the Global and European Bridges and Civil Structures skills leader role in ARUP. During the last 28 years he has been involved in the design and construction of multitude of bridges across the world. Additionally, along his career, he has focused on bridge design for the urban environment with contributions as lead designer or structural analysis specialist.

This year’s conference program will feature both international and national keynote speakers, as well as over 160 technical paper presentations.

For more information, visit the conference website.

Join a mid-to-late career WOMENG program

Austroads' supported initiative WOMENG (Women in Engineering) is seeking to identify mid-to-late career female professionals interested to join the program and further progress their career.

The mid-to-late career WOMENG program is for women already working in the sector and is oriented towards career guidance and pathways through close collaboration with female industry leaders, and through industry-based events and mentoring program.

Complete the survey if you would like to join the program.

To learn more about the program, get in touch with the project leader Associate Professor Filippo Giustozzi or project coordinator Cody Jackson at cody.jackson@rmit.edu.au.

SPARC International Symposium 2022

SPARC Hub will run a two-day online symposium on 29-30 September 2022 to advance the current approach for testing, design and construction of unbound flexible pavements.

The symposium comprises a range of keynote speeches from world-renowned experts and panel discussions on related topics with panels of local and overseas industry experts.

SPARC Hub (Smart Pavements Australia Research Collaboration Hub) is a collaborative think-tank led by Monash University that researches innovative materials, designs and adaptive technologies and facilitates skills development for the pavement industry.

Austroads is a major partner and sponsor of a range of cutting-edge and innovative research activities in SPARC, including intelligent compaction (IC) technology for performance-based construction. 

Find out more.

Seminar recording | Can plastic roads be part of a sustainable transport future?

Austroads and RMIT University presented new frameworks designed to support the sustainable use of waste plastics in roads. The four-hour seminar was held on 2 September 2022 at RMIT University in Melbourne. It was sponsored by Austroads and attracted an audience of more than 400 people across the world.

The recording of the seminar considers different perspectives of incorporating waste plastic into road and transport infrastructure and focusses on the Austroads project "Use of Road-grade Recycled Plastics for Sustainable Asphalt Pavements". The research findings from the project are documented in the following reports:

• The first report examined the use of road-grade recycled plastics in asphalt pavements and investigated the most suitable types of recycled plastics for incorporation into asphalt.
• The second report provided a comprehensive overview of the development of various testing frameworks for the characterisation of road-grade recycled plastic, the incorporation of recycled plastics in bitumen and asphalt and the study of possible emissions and microplastics release.
• Report 3 Part A presented the results of the experimental investigation on recycled plastics in asphalt and bitumen by focusing on the asphalt and bitumen properties, microplastics and emissions. The report focused on the wet and dry method of incorporation of plastics into asphalt.

Register for an Austroads upcoming webinar, which will discuss Report 3 Part B focusing on mixed methods performance and environmental assessment of recycled plastics, and the recyclability of reclaimed plastic-modified asphalt. 

New training available for the NSW Movement and Place Framework

A new NSW Movement and Place Framework course is available to all practitioners across NSW government, councils and industry involved in transport planning, land use planning, urban design, architecture and development. 

The course will be delivered by the University of Technology Sydney in a workshop format in various locations across NSW. Participants will learn how to use creative and collaborative problem-solving strategies to develop place-based solutions. They will develop analytical and design skills by focusing on movement systems and places.

Additionally, there are online eLearning modules available to help practitioners prepare for the training course. 

Register for the course.

Visit the Movement and Place website to learn more.

Register for the NSW Movement and Place Framework webinar.

Multimodal Incident Management | Register
Tuesday, 20 September 2022, 1 pm AEST
Register to hear about new guidance developed for road agencies to improve their multimodal incident management. 

Using Business Intelligence Tools in Road Asset Management | Register
Tuesday, 18 October 2022, 1 pm AEDT
Hear from transport agency practitioners about their experience in using digital data analytics tools for improving the accessibility and visualisation of data in road asset management.

NSW Movement and Place Framework | Register
Thursday, 20 October 2022, 1 pm AEDT
Tune in for an overview of the whole-of-government NSW Movement and Place Framework and how it supports Austroads guidance, Australian Standards and the Global Street Design Guidelines as they apply in different contexts across NSW.

Implementing the Austroads Road Asset Data Standard | Register
Tuesday, 25 October 2022, 1 pm AEDT
Join this webinar for an overview of the Austroads Road Asset Data Standard. The session will launch the initial functionality of the platform and provide an overview of how road managers can utilise the platform features to gain value and insights.

Guidance on the Installation of Low and Zero Emission Vehicles Charging Infrastructure | Register
Thursday, 3 November 2022, 1 pm AEDT
This webinar will present new Austroads guidance on managing the life cycle of charging infrastructure, including planning, design, operations, interoperability, maintenance, and decommissioning.

Best Practice in Smart Motorways Operations | Register
Tuesday, 15 November 2022, 1 pm AEDT
In this session participants will hear about the future trends, research findings and agency guidance on best practice in smart motorways operations. It will offer advice on how to support improving smart motorway capabilities using a Smart Motorway Classification Model and Capability Framework.

Use of Road-grade Recycled Plastics for Sustainable Asphalt Pavements Part 3: Performance Outcomes Part B and Future Recyclability | Register
Tuesday, 29 November 2022, 1 pm AEDT
In this session you will learn about the mixed methods performance and environmental assessment of recycled plastics used in asphalt roads. The session will expand on the recyclability of reclaimed plastic-modified asphalt.

Recent webinar recordings

View past webinars

Austroads tenders and project opportunities

• CAV6383 Minimum requirements for traffic signs, traffic signals and line markings. Closing on Thursday 22 September 2022.
• NEG6384 Movement and place guidance. Closing on Friday 23 September 2022.
• APT6332 Identifying segregation in next generation polymer modified binders. Closing on Wednesday 28 September 2022.
• SRD6370 Strategic review of road design guidance – team contributions. Closing on Friday 30 September 2022.
• EAS6377 Prioritising active transport. Closing on Friday 7 October 2022.

Find out more.

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.

2022 Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC 2022), Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand, 28-30 September 2022

Australasian Transport Research Forum 2022, Adelaide, 28-30 September 2022

Infrastructure Sustainability Council Connect Business Executive Luncheon, Brisbane, 14 October 2022

Austroads Bridge Conference 2022, Adelaide, 15-18 November 2022

Brisbane Truck Show, Brisbane, 18-21 May 2023

9th International Conference on Weigh-In-Motion (ICWIM9) and 17th International Symposium on Heavy Vehicle Transport and Technology joint international conference, Brisbane, 6-10 November 2023