Roads Australia
The tragic bridge collapse in the US has predictably triggered local media attention on the safety of Australian road bridges.
In Melbourne, the Age quoted a local engineering expert as saying fatigue cracks and corrosion were common bridge problems, and that not enough money was being spent on maintenance of bridges like the West Gate Bridge. VicRoads countered the claim, saying it new exactly the condition of the Bridge and had an ongoing management plan in place.
In a follow up report, the Age said the West Gate Bridge was likely to get a $240 million facelift to address previously identified maintenance issues. It said Victoria had already budgeted $120 million for the work and was seeking the same amount from the Federal Government through Auslink.
In Brisbane, the Courier Mail quoted Main Roads Director-General Alan Tesch as saying Queensland’s three steel truss bridges over the Burdekin, Kennedy and Burnett rivers were - like all the State’s bridges and structures - regularly inspected and structurally sound, but that Main Roads would apply any relevant findings from the Minneapolis bridge collapse.
And in Sydney, the Sun Herald carried a report saying the Federal Government would look at bridge maintenance procedures through AusLink.
In other news, Melbourne’s Herald Sun reported that Victoria’s Justice Department had split the contract to run the State’s mobile speed camera network, with Tenix now responsible only for processing and managing the enforcement process and Serco taking over operational management of the state's mobile speed cameras, some red light cameras and the CityLink cameras.
And the Australian newspaper gave something of a preview of the APEC lock-down of central Sydney during the September 7 to 9 meeting and, in particular, its impact on road access, with key areas of the CBD completely closed off by 2.8 metre high concrete barriers.
The Queensland Government has called for tenders for construction of the first stage of Bundaberg's $92 million ring road.
Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Paul Lucas, announced this week tenders had been called for the first 7.4 km section between Goodwood and Bargara roads.
"This is another milestone for the Bundaberg Ring Road - it means we're on track to start construction in November,” he said.
"By mid-2009 the first stage will be open to traffic with less congestion and fewer trucks on city streets.”
Mr Lucas said the Bundaberg Ring Road would provide an alternative route from the Isis Highway to industrial areas and the port.
"This vital section of road puts in place additional infrastructure to support Bundaberg Port's change of focus to become a regional freight hub,” the Minister said.
"Ultimately the Bundaberg Ring Road will grow to just over 14 kilometres in stage 2.
"Tenders for the second seven kilometre stage of the two lane ring road will be called in February next year ahead of a start on construction by June.
"It's expected the entire Bundaberg Ring Road will be completed by December, 2009.”
The Federal Government has extended its deadline for the final report of the independent review of the F3 to M7 route corridor selection to the end of this month.
The review, being conducted by the former Chief Judge of the New South Wales Land and Environment Court, the Hon Mahla Pearlman, had been due for completion by the end of July but is now due to the Government on August 31.
Federal Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads, Jim Lloyd, said Ms Pearlman has been granted the month's extension due to delays in receiving data from third parties and the time required to thoroughly review detailed public submissions.
Manchester is the latest UK city to agree to a plan for congestion charging.
But realisation of the plan is dependent on Government funding for public transport improvements.
The news will be of particular interest to attendees at this year’s ARF National Roads Summit. The international keynote speaker at the Summit, Jack Opiola from Booz Allen and Hamilton in London, was a lead adviser on Manchester’s C-Charge project and referenced it in his presentation on congestion charging.
Eight of the 10 local councils that make up Greater Manchester voted to push ahead with the scheme last month. They have subsequently submitted a proposal to the Government’s Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) to introduce congestion charging in return for £3b for public transport improvements.
If the bid is successful most of the transport improvements would have to be in place before the charging was introduced, probably in 2012.
The scheme is based on two rings of charging, with drivers only charged for passing through the rings in peak times. The maximum daily charge would be £5 a day.
Greater Manchester is one of 10 areas in England that have been developing road pricing or congestion charging plans in the hope of getting TIF funding.
Nominations for the 2007 Queensland Road Safety Awards close on August 16.
Now in their eighth year, the awards are a joint initiative of the RACQ and QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q). The awards are supported by Queensland Transport and the Queensland Police Service.
CARRS-Q director Professor Mary Sheehan said the awards were an important means of encouraging and recognising individuals and organisations who, through innovative programs, were improving road safety in Queensland.
“No project is too small to warrant consideration for an award,” she said. “Every initiative to encourage safer roads is important, no matter how small.”
Queensland Road Safety Awards nomination forms can be downloaded at www.carrsq.qut.edu.au/qrsa or can be obtained by phoning CARRS-Q on 3138 4568.
ARRB has announced a deadline extension for abstract submission for both the 23rd ARRB Conference (July 30 to August 1, 2008) and Sprayed Sealing Conference (July 27-29, 2008), both to be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
The deadline for abstract submissions is now August 30 2007.
ARRB says both conferences are unique in offering authors fully refereed papers, hence ensuring a high standard of proceedings. As the process of fully refereeing all conferences papers is considerable there is no intention to further extend the abstract submission deadline.
For more information, including links to conference details, go to www.arrb.com.au
The Civil Contractors Federation is staging its annual conference at Alice Springs from October 24-28.
With a theme of ‘Share our story...’, the conference is expected to attract CCF members and industry colleagues from across Australia to share innovative construction techniques and look to the future, particularly in addressing issues like skills demand.
For full information on the conference program and registration details, go to the CCF website at www. civilcontractors.com
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday August 10th 2007 1:17pm
© 2008 Roads Australia. Roads Australia does not warrant, guarantee or make any representations regarding the currency, accuracy, correctness, reliability, useability, or any other aspect, of the material presented in Roads Australia Insider, nor of material provided by others to Roads Australia and presented in this newsletter, nor of material provided by others and accessed from this site using links or connections to their Web sites or distribution services. The user accepts sole responsibility and all risk for using material presented on or accessed from Roads Australia Insider. Roads Australia does not accept any liability for any loss or damage which may be incurred as a result of using Roads Australia Insider or any material presented in or accessed from Roads Australia Insider.