IPWEA’s new Roads Practice Note will address the inconsistencies and vagaries in current visual road condition assessment through the creation of a nationwide rating system and visual assessment guidance tools.
Many councils had lobbied IPWEA to produce a nationally consistent and authoritative reference through the imprimatur of its Practice Note.
Visual condition assessment of roads varies greatly between road authorities, which can make it difficult for them to gain an overall picture of the condition of their network in each classification of the road hierarchy. The problem can be exacerbated in rural areas where there are a high number of unsealed gravel roads.
“The lack of such information makes it difficult for road managers to present a cogent case to decision makers about the budgets that should be assigned for routine and planned maintenance and more importantly for renewal of assets – particularly reseals, overlays, pavement rehabs and gravel resheets,” said NAMS.AU Chair Peter Way.
According to Way, the Roads Practice Note provides a nationally consistent way of assessing the condition of road pavements by visual assessment through the application of a comprehensive defects based condition grading system of 1 to 5 (1 being ‘as new’ through to 5 being very poor or ‘failed’).
The grading system addresses all the possible defect types across sealed and unsealed pavements including concrete pavements. It has been developed using a risk based approach so as to allow organisations to prioritise their inspection programs and then to also prioritise any resultant actions arising from the inspection process.
Most importantly, said Way, the PN includes an Appendix of a suite of example photos to demonstrate the nature of condition grade from 1 to 5 for each typical defect type. This has extended on from work that Austroads did in the 80s and ROCOND 90. It also incorporates links with the ISO 55000 Asset Management Standards and contemporary research in this field.
“It allows road managers to more confidently negotiate with the decision makers on the levels of funding that need to be budgeted, to provide the requisite level of service” Way added.
The PN is aimed at asset managers and all officers involved in the operation, maintenance and long term management of road networks both in urban and rural road agencies and including state road authorities. It is the first Roads Practice Note released by IPWEA.
IPWEA’s Roads Practice Note (PN9) is available now to
pre-order and will be supported by an up-coming national training program rollout across all Australian capital cities.
IPWEA would like to acknowledge the NAMS.AU Committee and our NAMS corporate supporters:
