Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

Austroads is encouraging drivers, employers and trainers to have their say on proposed changes to heavy vehicle driver licensing in Australia.

The changes are documented in a Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (C-RIS) which seeks feedback on proposed changes to the National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework. The Framework was endorsed by ministers in 2011 but has only been implemented in four states and territories.

At the request of transport ministers, Austroads has been undertaking an extensive program of work to review and improve the NHVDCF. 
Austroads’ review aims to deliver a harmonised Australian licence training and assessment framework that produces safe and competent heavy vehicle drivers and reflects the current and future needs of heavy vehicle operators and the future freight task.

Visit austroads.info/c-ris to download the C-RIS, access fact sheets and videos summarising the proposals and provide feedback.

In Australia and New Zealand, bituminous binders used in road construction are tested prior to use to ensure they will perform satisfactorily during road construction/maintenance. Some of the Australian Standards that are used for these tests have not been updated for 25 years which can make it difficult for testing laboratories to adhere to them.

In this webinar Dr Robert Urquhart presents an overview of an Austroads project which provided expert technical input into the revision of seven Australian Standards – four bituminous emulsion, one polymer modified binder and two cutback bitumen related Australian Standard test methods. They were revised by the Australian Standards Committee CH-025 ‘Bitumen and related products for roadmaking’ between August 2020 and September 2022.

Following topics are covered in the session:

• the process used to update an Australian Standard
• the main changes to each of the seven Standards
• the status of revision of each Standard

Road tunnels are an important element of the transport infrastructure, requiring significant resources and energy to construct, operate and maintain. Consequently, they are potentially a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution.

Practices and methods that promote the sustainability of road tunnels are, therefore, necessary for alleviating the pressure they exert on scarce resources and the natural environment. However, sustainability is not about what should be done for the environment, it is something that must be done to preserve the quality of all life on the planet. It is particularly important for a road tunnel compared to a road at grade as a road tunnel has a substantially higher carbon footprint, both during its construction and the continuous operation of its systems throughout its operating life.

Every state and territory in Australia, as well as New Zealand, has committed to net zero emissions by 2050. In this context, responsible organisations have an obligation to reduce the sustainability impacts of delivering and operating road tunnels whose asset life is expected to extend beyond 2050.

In this webinar, Georgia O’Connor, Les Louis and Tony Peglas give an overview of the research undertaken to include updates for sustainability in the four parts of the Austroads Guide to Road Tunnels (AGRT).

The research presented in the session will provide owners, operators, designers and those constructing tunnels with guidance on how to achieve more sustainable outcomes at each stage of a road tunnel’s life cycle.

Governments, transport agencies, and industry have identified the need to reduce waste going to landfill and increase the use of recycled materials to achieve more sustainable development and improve outcomes for communities. The latest update to the Guide to Pavement Technology Part 4E: Recycled Materials covers the advancement in material re-use that has occurred in the 13 years since the 2009 version of the guide was published.

There is wide concern around the misuse of recycled materials in road construction, and it is generally agreed that roads should not be viewed as alternative avenues for waste disposal. A protocol has been established that follows a step-by-step process for quantifying the effect of using novel, post-consumer and industrial wastes or recycled materials in asphalt pavements and sprayed seal surfacings.

This webinar covers the following key updates made to the Austroads Guide to Pavement Technology Part 4E: Recycled Materials:

• Latest and emerging recycled materials utilised within pavements and information on their use in specific applications as well as associated issues, risks, and considerations.
• The developed holistic assessment framework for the use of recycled materials in road pavements.
• The developed protocol for asphalt and sprayed seals that establishes a step-by-step process for quantifying the effect of using novel, post-consumer and industrial wastes or recycled materials.

The webinar is presented by Phil Herrington from WSP New Zealand, Brody Clark from WSP Australia with participation of Grant Bosma from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and Mike Pickering from the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Austroads has updated the Guide to Road Design Part 6: Roadside Design, Safety and Barriers (AGRD Part 6) introducing new sections on the fundamentals of safety barrier systems and design advice for other road safety devices.

This webinar, presented by Dr Rod Troutbeck and Richard Fanning, focuses on the updated Section 6 providing an overview of the process to design the installation of a safety barrier.

The session describes the actions for defining the context of the installation including choosing an appropriate containment level. It also outlines the preliminary design tasks of selecting a barrier and defining its lateral and longitudinal position.

The aspects of detailed design are also described, including the installation refinements, selecting the appropriate terminal or transition and the structural design of a proposed barrier. Finally, the webinar briefly describes the documentation of the design.

Austroads has updated the Guide to Road Design Part 6: Roadside Design, Safety and Barriers (AGRD Part 6) introducing new sections on the fundamentals of safety barrier systems and design advice for other road safety devices.

This webinar, presented by Dr Rod Troutbeck and Richard Fanning, covers the new structure of AGRD Part 6 and new information included as part of the current guide update focusing on the following sections:

• Section 4: Treatment Options, including options for consideration for a number of relatively common hazards
• Section 5: Fundamentals of Safety Barrier Systems, including information to assist users to make informed decisions when selecting a barrier system for a particular site
• Section 6: Road Safety Barriers, including design process.

The webinar also provides details and the research background to a number of new concepts and processes that have been included in AGRD Part 6. These include barrier flexibility as a measure of their performance, the use of working width rather than deflection, the need to choose an appropriate containment level, the use of a new concept of the departure points of redirection, the placement of barriers behind kerbs, a revised method to calculate the length of need, the need to install barriers in appropriate soils and the orientation of barriers on superelevated roadways.

Road users are increasingly recognising the value of data for improved mobility and safety. Austroads Cloud Connected Road User (CCRU) project studied how agencies can support cloud-connected road users through data from portable and fixed in-vehicle devices to assist with trip planning, and warning and advice when travelling. The project examined various CCRU data provision methods and practices in the EU, USA, Australia, and New Zealand to provide agencies with guidance on how to manage, enhance, and deliver data to CCRUs.

This webinar, presented by Vibeke Matthews and David Yee, provides an overview of the various business models that may be used by agencies to support the CCRU ecosystem. It addresses the potential range of agency involvement across the key roles of CCRU data gatherer, data provider and data presenter that may be employed depending on the business model adopted for each data type.

The webinar also offers advice on how to manage the six key data function areas that are critical to supporting CCRUs. These include managing data foundations, governing data, planning and designing data, enabling and maintaining data, using data; and, if presenting data directly to road users, managing road user apps and websites. The outputs of this project will form the foundation of data support requirements for future CAVs.

This webinar, presented by Austroads Temporary Traffic Management Project Manager Chris Koniditsiotis and AITDSA Workstream Manager Gavin Hill, is an overview of the Austroads Innovative Temporary Traffic Management Device and Solution Assessment (AITDSA) scheme (commencing 1 July 2022).

AITDSA provides a way for innovative devices and solutions used for temporary traffic management to be assessed and recognised by Austroads members throughout Australia and New Zealand.

AITDSA responds to the emergence of new technologies, innovative solutions, and devices that can be used to improve safety at mobile and static work sites that perform a diverse range of functions, including:

• regulating traffic (i.e., to assign priority and indicate regulations in force)
• informing motorists of hazards or regulatory controls ahead
• warning of temporary hazards that could endanger motorists or workers and plant engaged in work on the road.

This webinar introduces Austroads new projects lined up for the 2022-23 financial year.

The session is most beneficial to consultants who may be interested in tendering for Austroads projects.

Upcoming projects focus on road network resilience, pavement design, movement and place, cycling and micromobility, future freight vehicles, road design, driver licensing, climate change risk assessment, automated and electric vehicle data exchange and provision.

Austroads Project APT6305 Use of Road-grade Recycled Plastics for Sustainable Asphalt Pavements is investigating the use of recycled plastics in asphalt. The project is almost completed with results to date provided in three published 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.

The third report, the most comprehensive so far, presents the results of the experimental investigation on recycled plastics in asphalt and bitumen by focusing on the asphalt and bitumen properties, microplastics and emissions.

This webinar presents the outcomes of the project to date and covers the results of the multi-faceted (i.e. performance and environmental testing) laboratory investigation on bitumen and asphalt modified with recycled plastics. The session provides details on a potential framework for introducing the use of recycled plastics into current policies and specifications.

Webinar presenters are Andrew Papacostas from Department of Transport Victoria, Associate Professor Filippo Giustozzi from RMIT University and his team, including Dr Marie Enfrin, Yeong Jia Boom, and Dr Dai Lu Xuan.