Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for February
RoadWatch: Roundup
February 2022
Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for February. Discover our latest news, published reports, Guide updates, webinars and events.
Increasing the use of recycled glass in transport infrastructure
Austroads has published documentation to encourage the use of recycled crushed glass in transport infrastructure.
A technical specification sets out the minimum requirements for the manufacture and supply of recycled crushed glass for use in bedding, backfilling material, concrete, road drainage, embankment fill, and landscaping applications.
A guideline provides potential recyclers with the information they need to gain a better understanding of how recycled crushed glass should be processed to make it fit-for-purpose for infrastructure applications.
In summary the research found that recycled crushed glass should be clean, hard and durable, and free from contamination. Depending on the application, recycled crushed glass may be used as a direct substitute for natural granular materials or as a portion of the aggregate for blending, or as fine aggregate in concrete applications.
Thursday, 3 March 2022, 1-2 pm AEDT
Join us for a webinar with authors Dr James Grenfell and Dr Didier Bodin.
Better predicting the performance of foamed bitumen stabilised materials
Austroads has published a new laboratory fatigue relationship to better predict the performance of foamed bitumen stabilised (FBS) materials.
“Our key objective was to improve the Austroads procedure for the design of FBS materials which would allow the reuse of existing material in situ, saving finite aggregate resources, and the reduction in cost and environmental impacts compared to pavement reconstruction,” said Ross Guppy Austroads’ Transport Infrastructure Program Manager.
“We have developed new laboratory fatigue relationships for the FBS materials and then used the developed models to predict the fatigue lives of the mixes.”
The predictions using the strain-based relationship showed a generally acceptable conformity with the laboratory-measured data. A slightly lower prediction quality was found for the stress-based relationship. However, the predicted life from the stress-based analysis was still in reasonable agreement with the FBS measured fatigue life with limited exceptions.
Thursday, 10 March 2022, 1-2 pm AEDT
Join us for a webinar with authors Dr Negin Zhalehjoo, Andrew Papacostas and Dr Didier Bodinfor a detailed overview.
Benefits and costs of investing in physical infrastructure to support automated driving
To help road agencies achieve adequate infrastructure readiness for current and future automated vehicles (AVs), Austroads has published advice addressing which infrastructure types should be prioritised for investment, as well as the timing and scale for that investment.
The advice has been developed against a backdrop of significant uncertainty around the future of AVs. These uncertainties include the timing when high-level AVs will be widely available and the level of reliance of future AVs on physical infrastructure.
The possible scenarios covered the uptake rates for different transport tasks. “We considered a range of vehicle types that can be equipped with sensors or connectivity features that enable autonomy. These include passenger vehicles, transit and people movers such as buses and shuttle services, light commercial vehicles used for the first/last-mile delivery of goods and long-haul heavy freight vehicles,” said Vibeke Matthews, Austroads’ Acting Program Manager Future Vehicles & Technology.
Thursday, 17 March 2022, 1-2 pm AEDT
Join us for a webinar with project manager Andrew Somers, and report authors Simon Xue and Elnaz Irannezhad.
Symbols proposed for low and zero emission vehicles and associated infrastructure signage
Austroads has published a report proposing a set of symbols for low and zero emission vehicles and associated charging or refuelling infrastructure to be used on road signs and for road marking in Australia and New Zealand.
The proposal forms a basis for future testing and standardisation of the symbols and their adoption in the Australian Road Rules (ARR) and signage manuals.
Five categories of symbols have been considered in the report – symbols to illustrate an electric-powered vehicle, an electric-powered vehicle being charged, a charging station for electric-powered vehicles, a hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle and associated refuelling infrastructure and a symbol for access to lanes and roadways designated for electric-powered vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicles.
The report recommends the symbols to be tested to ensure they are well understood by road users prior to adoption in the Australian Standards and the ARR.
Tuesday, 22 March 2022, 1-2 pm AEDT
Join us for a webinar with the authors of the report for a detailed overview.
New road safety auditing guidance
Austroads has published new guidance for public road managers and private sector organisations commissioning and undertaking road safety auditing.
The Guide to Road Safety Part 6: Road Safety Audit consolidates and updates the previous Guide to Road Safety parts 6 and 6A published in 2019.
“The road safety principles outlined in the Guide raise the bar and lay the foundation for future national harmonisation. It is a logical way of bringing about the change and improvement across all aspects of road safety auditing,” said Michael Nieuwesteeg, Austroads’ Road Safety and Design Program Manager.
The new Guide incorporates the latest Safe System thinking and focuses on supporting the industry to ensure road safety audit processes are current and consistent across road networks in Australia and New Zealand.
Establishing agency capabilities to support connected vehicles
Austroads has published guidance to help road transport agencies identify and enhance the capabilities of their systems, policies, processes and staff to support connected vehicles.
The guidance presents an agency business capability model that contains five organisational capability areas and associated capability maturity target states from business and technology perspectives.
The capability areas are managing data foundations, governing data, planning and designing data, as well as enabling, maintaining and using data. Each of the five areas include multiple capabilities, including data security and privacy, ethics, data integration and storage, business intelligence and data science.
Austroads is funding a review of Guide to Road Safety Part 2: Safe Roads. The project presents a unique opportunity to influence the industry and the future of road safety across Australasia.
The work aims to reposition the Guide as the primary source of authoritative contemporary guidance setting out how to apply the Safe System approach to all phases of the decision-making process in relation to road network strategy, policy, planning, design, management and operation.
To help inform the shape and direction of this project, Abley and HA Consulting Pty Ltd are seeking feedback via an online survey.
The survey is expected to take you approximately 10-15 minutes with responses due by Monday 28 February 2022.
Cycling and Walking Australia and New Zealand (CWANZ), in conjunction with Austroads, will present a webinar on the 2021 National Walking and Cycling Participation Survey covering the methodology and a brief review of the results.
Speakers include Cameron Munro, CDM Research, Robyn Davies from the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland, and Dr Zarin Salter from the Department of Transport, Western Australia.
Austroads, CSIRO and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications will hold a webinar on the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy.
The strategy sets the agenda for coordinated and well-planned government and industry action to 2040 and beyond, with a national vision for freight systems and supply chains to contribute to a strong and prosperous Australia.
This webinar will be presented by Georgia O’Cianain, Andrew Higgins and Deb Fearns who will provide an overview of the following action items under the Strategy:
- National Freight Data HubOpens in new window, a federated data-sharing network to provide open access to government data, help industry share data together, and collectively answer the big questions about Australia’s freight performance and how we can improve it.
- Supply Chain Benchmarking DashboardOpens in new window, a web-based data visualisation tool that provides detailed and interactive modelling of Australian transport and logistics supply chains across road and rail. A total of 150 commodities are available with a variety of capabilities including enhanced geographic filtering.
- National Urban Freight Planning PrinciplesOpens in new window, seven high-level principles endorsed by Australian, state and territory governments that provide guidance for land use decision-making across all levels of government to improve planning for freight in Australia’s metropolitan areas.
Reminder – abstracts for the 11th Austroads Bridge Conference 2022 are due to close on 4 March 2022.
Submissions are open for:
- Oral presentation
- Poster presentation
Abstracts are to be a maximum of 300 words and must be submitted electronically to the Abstract Submission Portal. Abstracts should briefly outline the main features, results and conclusions as well as their general significance, and contain relevant references if necessary.
Authors will be notified of acceptance by 22 April 2022.
If you require any assistance, please contact us at conference@aomevents.com.
The 2022 Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC 2022) Organising Committee is inviting researchers and practitioners to submit Extended Abstracts for oral and poster presentations, or a proposal for a symposium.
ARSC 2022 is brought to you by the Australasian College of Road Safety and Austroads in conjunction with Trafinz, 28-30 September 2022, in Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand and online to accommodate delegates from anywhere in the world.
Information on the presentation types and submission process can be found here.
PIARC Performance of Road and Transport Administrations committee meeting
Performance of Road and Transport Administration Technical Committee 1.1 held its fourth meeting over the period 21 to 26 November 2021.
The committee identifies best practices for establishing a framework for measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of transport administrations, with a particular focus on overall customer experience and communication of performance information.
There is no charge for our webinars, but registration is essential. If you can’t make the live session, register and we will send you a link to the recording.
Inclusion of Recent Road Safety Research in the Guide to Road Design | Register
Tuesday, 15 February 2022, 1 pm AEDT
Register for this webinar to hear about proposed inclusions to the Guide to Road Design related to improvements to practice focusing on Safe System, the vulnerability of motorcycles and specific heavy vehicle road design considerations.
National Walking and Cycling Participation Survey 2021 | Register
Thursday, 24 February 2022, 1 pm AEDT
Join this webinar to hear about the results of the 2021 National Walking and Cycling Participation Survey. Participants will also hear about how the data is used in different states and some interpretations that can be made.
National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy | Register
Tuesday, 1 March 2022, 1 pm AEDT
In this session we will talk about the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy, outlining the National Freight Data Hub, the Supply Chain Benchmarking Dashboard and the National Urban Freight Planning Principles.
Increasing the Use of Recycled Glass in Road Infrastructure | Register
Thursday, 3 March 2022, 1 pm AEDT
Learn about the technical basis behind the development a specification on the supply of recycled crushed glass in road infrastructure.
Maximising the Use of Sustainable Rehabilitation Treatments | Register
Thursday, 10 March 2022, 1 pm AEDT
Tune in to learn about a new laboratory fatigue relationship to predict the performance of FBS materials to be used for future pavement design.
Benefits and Costs of Providing a Minimum Physical Infrastructure Standard for the Operation of Automated Driving | Register
Thursday, 17 March 2022, 1 pm AEDT
This webinar will provide a detailed overview of the advice that addresses which physical road infrastructure for automated driving should be prioritised for investment, as well as the timing and scale for that investment.
Proposed Signage for Low and Zero Emission Vehicles and Associated Infrastructure | Register
Tuesday, 22 March 2022, 1 pm AEDT
Register for an overview of a report that proposes a set of symbols for low and zero emission vehicles and associated charging or refuelling infrastructure for road signs and road marking in Australia and New Zealand.
BITRE research
The Australian Infrastructure Statistics and Transport Yearbook 2021 provides a single, comprehensive annual source of infrastructure statistics for use by policymakers, industry leaders, transport analysts and the wider Australian community. The publication is primarily a source of long-term, aggregate time series infrastructure statistics. Most statistics included in the publication are currently collected by BITRE or other Australian, state or territory government agencies.
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.
ARRB Symposium "Integrated Mobility Impacts 2022", Melbourne, first half of 2022
IPWEA NSW & ACT State Conference, Canberra, 9-10 March 2022
TMAA 2022 Conference – Redefining Traffic Management, Melbourne, 24-25 March 2022
IPWEA International Public Works Conference, Adelaide, 1-5 May 2022
MEGATRANS: Reimagining the supply chain, Melbourne, 24-26 August 2022
2022 Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC 2022), Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand, 28-30 September 2022
Austroads Bridge Conference 2022, Adelaide, 15-18 November 2022
