There are a large number of concrete pavements in Australia, with many dating back to the first half of the 20th century. These concrete pavements are still in use today, and since the time these pavements were constructed, we have seen an evolution in traffic volumes and the size of...
Northern Connector, South Australia’s Political Journey
The concrete paving of the North-South Corridor, Norther Connector in South Australia was as much a political challenge as it was a logistical and technical one. George Panagopoulos, DPTI Project Manager, outlines the unique political journey to achieving the Project's successful inception and completion.
Northern Connector – The paving journey for the first concrete pavement in Adelaide
During the Northern Connector tender, concrete pavements was discussed early as an option. Our concrete pavement solution became Lendlease’s primary submission with flexible pavement as an alternative as it provided increased local content and introduced new skills for the region. Following contract award, immediate planning for detailed jointing design, raw...
Funder Decision-Making and Review of Pavement Types for Major Projects
Keynote presentation by Transport for NSW's Director of Strategic Investments covering; Sources of road funding 2019-20 budget funding for infrastructure Current significant transport projects Funder decision making framework Value for money assessment and economics Hypothetical motorway upgrade – asphalt vs concrete The life cycle cost conundrum
Construction of the M4 Widening, WestConnex Stage 1A
The M4 Widening project comprised the first stage in the delivery of WestConnex. It involved the widening and upgrading of approximately 7.5 kilometres of the M4 Motorway (M4) between Pitt Street, Parramatta and Homebush Bay Drive, Homebush. The project was opened to traffic in July 2017, in line with the...
A Fresh Look at Pavement Life Costs
Whole of life cycle costing of pavements has not been revisited for nearly 27 years since 1990 by the Bureau of Transport Economics (now BITRE). Previously, asphalt pavements were considered to have a lower cost of construction but required regular maintenance (every 5 to 10 years) whereas concrete pavements are...
The important role materials play in concrete pavement design, performance, and service life
The materials that make up concrete have a direct influence on the decisions made during pavement design and construction, as well as the performance of the pavement in service. What happens when material performance varies from what was considered at design stage? What if we need to change construction methods...
Getting the Most from Roadway Investments
Roadways & pavements play a vital, but underappreciated role in our nation’s economic competitiveness. Implementation of two policies can improve the pavement network investment efficiency; Introduce more competition into the pavement bidding process Use “Remaining Service Interval” concept to allocate resources effectively at the pavement network level Together, these policies...
Influence of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Cement in concrete pavement mix designs
Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) pavement specifications require the use of Grade 1 fly ash and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace slag cement (GGBFS) for R82 – lean mix concrete subbase [1], and also fly ash and/or GGBFS for R83 – Concrete Pavement Base [2], where reactive aggregates are used. This...
How Runway Pavement Value Choices are Influenced by Construction Costs, Loading, Subgrade and Operational Considerations
In Australia, most runway pavements are constructed from asphalt, however the reverse is markedly true for the USA. Melbourne’s Essendon runway was originally concrete but was overlaid with thick asphalt many years ago. Asphalt runways at Melbourne’s Tullamarine and Amberley have some sections of concrete. This paper explores the determination...
The Case For Lower Strength Gain and Early Age Acceptance of Concrete for Road Pavements
The objective of this paper is to encourage informed discussion among concrete pavement engineers. In New South Wales there is a substantial length of contemporary concrete highway construction. A very large inventory of concrete strength results is available. These have shown that construction specification requirements are being significantly exceeded in...
Intricacies Surrounding the Machine Placement of Concrete Pavements in Tunnels: Current state of Practice.
Transport tunnels built in Australia within the past 25 years have typically been designed and constructed consecutively. However, in recent years Australia (and Sydney in particular) is witnessing these projects being delivered concurrently, which are in turn diluting the skills pool across all facets of the industry. Sydney is currently...