Highways

The National Association of Australian State Road Authorities (NAASRA) has recently published the Guide to the Structural Design of Road Pavements which supersedes the Interim Guide to Pavement Thickness Design published in 1979. The new guide incorporates a mechanistic design procedure for flexible pavements that represents a quantum leap forward...

The AMCORD URBAN strategy of the 1990s highlights the need to offer greater and more cost-effective choice of urban housing of quality. Along with this need, the study recognised the relevance of infrastructure in terms of physical and social elements.

Safety on the public road is a matter of concern to the whole community. Fast moving opposing streams of traffic are often separated only by air and paint and the potential for collisions is high. Many campaigns are conducted to improve driver education and performance; regulations require an increasing number...

The Warringah Freeway (FI) extending north from the Sydney Harbour Bridge was commissioned in 1968. It was the first major length of urban concrete freeway pavement in Australia. The pavement, including shoulders, is reinforced concrete with a total length equivalent to 42 km of a two-lane road. Built under a...

Much of the mechanism to minimise the environmental impact of new, and upgrading of existing, roads is described in environmental impact statements (FIS). Recently, the community has played an important role in the preparation of EISs by assessing the potential impact and benefits derived from such statements Prepared by engineers....

Many Local Government authorities in Australia are finding themselves in the position where roads constructed many years ago are now showing signs of distress. This can be due to a deterioration in the riding surface, a loss pf structural capacity in the pavement itself or, as is often the case,...

The Brisbane City Council is responsible for maintaining approximately 5000 km of road. A Pavement Management System was developed in 1977 to formulate policy on the effective funding for the maintenance and rehabilitation of road pavements. Through this system all streets are visually assessed and classified with regard to surface...

Pavement performance audits have also assisted engineers to analyse vast amounts of data relating to the performance of various traffickable roads in the municipality. Assessing different rehabilitation or reconstruction strategies requires an understanding of the costs and longevity of different pavement types and treatments. Since rigid pavements outlast flexible pavements,...

With an eye to future rehabilitation solutions, John Hodgkinson re-visited a CRCP overlay constructed on the Hume Highway, just north of Holbrook, in 1992. A significant milestone was reached in June 2021 as the first BCSA Rapid Set Concrete slab celebrated its 10th Birthday in Australia at Sydney International Airport. Since this...

Recent field observations on several newly constructed Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavements (CRCP) in Belgium have indicated that the crack pattern is characterized as low mean crack spacing (approximately 1.0 m after 2 years in-service) along with a high percentage of clusters of closely spaced cracks. Besides, field surveys also indicate...

Concrete is used throughout the World every day in countless diverse applications but it is critically important in terms of performance and durability to understand why the mix design and placement need to be appropriately tailored to suit each application. The inimitable Geoff Ayton will explore what it takes to...

In addition to advances in materials and construction equipment there is a continuing need to ensure adequate skills are available within paving crews. Since 2006 concrete pavement crews and their supervisors in Australia have been required to undertake a mandatory one-day course. Known in industry as the “Grey Card” course...