Austroads’ monthly newsletter
RoadWatch: Roundup
November 2019
Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for November. Discover our latest news, published reports, Guide updates, webinars and events.
New Chief Operating Officer for Austroads
Austroads welcomes Dr Geoff Allan as its new Chief Operating Officer following the retirement of David Francis, who has been a greatly valued member of the Austroads team for more than 16 years.
Geoff has a background in transport and experience working across Australasia. He has worked in the Commonwealth Department of Transport and the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. He has recently spent nearly six years as Chief Operating Officer for the National Transport Commission during which time he helped build the skills and confidence of staff to deliver complex reforms in a challenging multi-jurisdictional environment.
David has been awarded the Austroads Medal for Outstanding Service and the Centre for Pavement Engineering Education Certificate of Appreciation for his significant contribution to the professionalism of Austroads and its strong relationships with stakeholders.
Read more
Austroads Annual Report celebrates 30 years
Austroads has published its 2018-19 annual report which celebrates 30 years of collaboration, harmonisation and innovation, and provides highlights, case studies and details of projects undertaken and completed during the year.
The highlights showcase Austroads’ achievements during the financial year, including completion of a 25-year study which has provided major insights into increasing the long-term life and condition of pavements and could save Australian governments $40 million a year.
The case studies show that Austroads continues to meet members’ needs by coordinating leading-edge research that informs practice and strategies at all levels of government. For example, an Austroads report, Investigating the Potential Benefits of Enhanced End to End Supply Chain Visibility, formed the basis for the Australian Government’s National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy and a New Zealand case study included in a research report informed a speed reduction strategy to improve road safety in Cairns.
Read more | Download the report
Latest edition of Guide to Pavement Technology Part 8 emphasises construction safety and new plant
Austroads has published a new edition of Guide to Pavement Technology Part 8: Pavement Construction providing practitioners with up-to-date practices and the latest research to improve their pavement construction planning and delivery.
“Part 8 was last updated in 2009. In the last two decades, construction practices have improved for all pavement types,” said George Vorobieff, General Manager, Head to Head International Pty Ltd and Part 8 author. “More emphasis on construction safety by road agencies and industry means new plant has been developed, such as the forward moving aggregate spreader for sprayed sealing.”
The new edition continues to focus on new construction and where applicable, acknowledges local practices.
The Guide will be helpful to everyone involved in road construction, including industry, state and territory transport agencies, local government and students.
Read more | Download the Guide
Developing consistent condition and performance data for intelligent transport systems
Austroads has published a report presenting standardised condition and performance datasets for intelligent transport systems (ITS) assets – technologies placed in vehicles and infrastructure to improve the safety and efficiency of transport systems.
“There is currently no national guidance on what sort of information should be collected to monitor and benchmark the performance of ITS assets,” said Dr Clarissa Han, Principal Professional Leader, Future Transport Systems, ARRB and report author.
“Consistent data collection will improve the accuracy of inventory management, condition assessment and analysis, fault management, and performance reporting.”
For road users this will reduce road congestion, improve reliability and make roads safer.
Read more | Download the report
Join us for a free webinar on Thursday 5 December 2019, 1pm AEDT for an overview of the study, by the report author Dr Clarissa Han and Dean Parker.
No charge but registration essential.
Can’t make the live session? Register and we’ll send you a link to the recording.
The benefits and challenges of using recycled plastics in asphalt and sprayed seals
Austroads has published a report exploring the benefits and challenges of using recycled plastics in asphalt and sprayed seals on roads. It follows overseas countries such as China and Indonesia banning the import of waste from Australia, leading to a growing interest in using recycled plastics in Australian and New Zealand infrastructure.
“We conducted a comprehensive local and overseas literature review, and found that some waste plastics can be a partial aggregate replacement in bituminous mixes and a binder extender without significantly influencing asphalt properties,” said Christina Chin, Principal Consultant & State Manager (Victoria), Level 5 Design, and principal report author.
However, most laboratory trials conducted overseas were not performed in accordance with Australian bitumen standards and specifications, and very little is known about the manufacturing processes of the commercially available proprietary products currently being trialled on Australian and New Zealand roads.
“As a result, there are concerns about hazards road workers could be exposed to while handling recycled plastics,” Christina said. “Some plastics, when heated, release toxic emissions such as chloride, formaldehyde, toluene and ethylbenzene. Another major concern is microplastics leaching out from our pavements into waterways, posing a serious threat to our marine life.”
Read more | Download the report
Review of Australia’s Oversea Driver Licensing Policy
Austroads has recently completed a review of the current arrangements and policy settings relating to the recognition of overseas driver licences in Australia.
The review also provides some analysis of the safety of overseas drivers on Australian roads, and increasing challenges associated with the conversion of an overseas licence for an Australian licence in terms of current practices for client identification and document verification.
The review highlighted a number of issues and proposed actions to manage these.
Find out more about the issues and recommendations
Find out more about Austroads’ scope, work and people
Want to know more about the work of Austroads’ Programs?
Watch our short videos on the:
· Assets Program – Program Manager Ross Guppy describes working with industry on sustainability in asset management
· Future Vehicles and Technology Program – Program Manager John Wall shows how some vehicles can already read signs and lines on our major highways
· Network Program – Program Manager Richard Delplace discusses how mobility as a service will impact network operations
· Safety Program – Program Manager David Bobbermen explains why network-wide safety projects achieve their objectives.
Trends, challenges and opportunities in improving road safety
We attended the Australasian Road Safety Conference in Adelaide in September, and talked to our stakeholders about emerging trends, challenges and opportunities in the road safety sector.
Watch the video
Upcoming Austroads webinars
Australasian Road Asset Data Standard – Opportunities for Local Government
Friday 29 November, 12.30pm AEDT
This webinar will outline how local road managers can use the data standard and share knowledge to gain access to new asset management and maintenance insights, with minimal impact on workload.
Standardisation of ITS Technology Asset Management Datasets
Thursday 5 December, 1.00pm AEDT
This webinar will give you an overview of the first version of the standardised condition and performance datasets for intelligent transport systems (ITS) assets.
No charge but registration is essential.
Can’t make the live session? Register and we’ll send you a link to the recording.
Latest webinar recordings
Infrastructure Changes to Support Automated Vehicles on Rural and Metropolitan Highways and Freeways
This webinar, presented on 7 November 2019, provides an overview of the gaps in current physical and digital road infrastructure to support connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) on Australian and New Zealand highways and freeways.
View all our past webinars online www.austroads.com.au/webinars.
Tell us about your use of trip generation rates
The Austroads Network Program has commissioned research to identify state-of-the-art multi-modal trip generation practice across Australasia, and understand how trip rates are being used and where improvements may be required.
As an initial step, we are inviting practitioners in transport agencies, local governments, and industry to complete a short survey detailing their knowledge and use of trip rates, and highlighting where they have noted deficiencies. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.
Complete the survey by Thursday 21 November.
Find out more
Calling for input on the National Freight Data Hub
The National Freight Data Hub aims to enhance access to better freight data across all modes to help industry, governments and others:
· streamline day-to-day operations
· make better transport and infrastructure investment decisions
· evaluate the performance of Australia’s freight system.
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development is now seeking input from potential users of the Freight Data Hub to help settle the design. A discussion paper has been released which asks a series of questions to seek views on:
· the purposes of the Hub
· priority datasets for inclusion
· sharing principles
· priority outputs.
Submissions close on Friday 6 December 2019.
To view the discussion paper and more information on the National Freight Data Hub, visit www.infrastructure.gov.au/transport/freight/national-freight-data-hub/index.aspx
World Road Association updates
Austroads currently has full or corresponding representatives on 15 World Road Association technical committees. Representatives are members of, or have a close working relationship with, an Austroads Task Force or working group.
Technical Committee A1: Performance of Transport Administrations
The latest meeting of Technical Committee A1: Performance of Transport Administrations, was held in Abu Dhabi in October.
Read the report by Austroads’ representative, Alan Colegate
Task Force B2: Road Design and Infrastructure for Innovative Transport Solutions
The latest meeting of Task Force B2: Road Design and Infrastructure for Innovative Transport Solutions, was held in Abu Dhabi in October.
Read the report by Austroads’ representative, Matthew Hall
Technical Committee E2: Environment Considerations in Road Projects and Operations
The latest meeting of Technical Committee E2: Environment Considerations in Road Projects and Operations, was held in Abu Dhabi in October.
Read the report by Austroads’ representatives, Helen Murphy and Rob Hannaby
Connected Vehicles – Challenges and Opportunities for Road Operators
This recent report describes how the growth in cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) presents many opportunities for road operators regarding road design and operations, but also many challenges. It formulates recommendations for countries and regions, including developing countries.
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: International road safety comparisons—annual
This report presents tabulations of road deaths and road death rates for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations and Australian states and territories. The rates enable Australia’s road safety performance to be compared with that of other OECD nations by accounting for the differing levels of populations, motorisation and distances travelled.
BITRE: National profile of transport, postal and warehousing workers in 2016
This study uses ABS 2016 census data to provide details of the industries in which transport, postal and warehousing workers are employed, their employment status, hours worked, gender, age, occupation, educational qualifications, income, work location and commuting behaviour. It also describes some key changes that have occurred since the last edition in 2011, such as the ageing and upskilling of the workforce.
BITRE: National profile of heavy and civil engineering construction workers in 2016
This study explores details of the industries in which heavy and civil engineering construction workers are employed, their employment status, hours worked, gender, age, occupation, educational qualifications, income, work location and commuting behaviour. It also describes some key changes that have occurred since the last edition in 2011, such as the changing gender mix and upskilling of the workforce.
Upcoming conferences
ALGA National Local Roads and Transport Congress 2019, Adelaide Hills, 18-20 November 2019
International Cycling Safety Conference, Brisbane, 18-20 November 2019
NEW Basic Geometric Road Design Workshop, Sydney, 19-20 November 2019
Corrosion and Prevention 2019, Melbourne, 24-27 November 2019
NEW Basic Geometric Road Design Workshop, Port Melbourne 17-18 March 2020
Safer Roads 2020, Virginia, USA, 12-14 May 2020
ITS Asia Pacific Forum, Brisbane, 25-28 May 2020
IABSE Congress, Christchurch, 2-4 September 2020
NEW 2020 Australasian Road Safety Conference, Melbourne, 16-18 September 2020
NEW Australasian Tunnelling Conference, Melbourne, 29 November-3 December, 2020.
