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AUS-SPEC news and updates

By intouch * posted 18-01-2018 15:19

  

Local governments have the responsibility to provide effective services to the community. In order to do so sustainably and efficiently, the community’s assets must be maintained throughout their lifecycle.

An up-to-date asset management and maintenance system, such as AUS-SPEC, can assist local councils in providing the level of service desired by the community. Using the AUS-SPEC documents, performance of existing assets can be maximised, while minimising cost and time expenditure, and safety risks for users.

AUS-SPEC is the local government specification system for the life cycle management of assets and is jointly developed by IPWEA and NATSPEC. AUS-SPEC is updated annually to maintain currency to applicable Australian standards and ensure the documents are to current industry practices.

2017 International Public Works Conference

Nandini Mehta, AUS-SPEC Manager, presented a paper titled Developing AUS-SPEC For More Sustainable Community Assets at the 2017 IPWEA International Public Works Conference in Perth.

Outlining AUS-SPEC’s development over the past few years, the paper describes the value in AUS-SPEC’s promotion of technical and contractual consistency between councils. Flexibility to edit and add project-specific requirements where necessary supports AUS-SPEC’s mission to provide a specification system for local government and improve the quality of construction and maintenance of their assets in Australia.

AUS-SPEC papers presented at various IPWEA conferences can be downloaded at www.natspec.com.au/resources/aus-spec-papers.

New Publications

Screen_Shot_2018-01-18_at_3_04_52_PM.pngAUS-SPEC released two new brochures in 2017:

  • The Necessity of Local Government Specification: This brochure explores the duty of care that road authorities have to road users, and the issues involved. Different Councils’ approaches to infrastructure maintenance are discussed, and case studies from Councils which have used the AUS-SPEC specification system demonstrate the improved maintenance and management of their assets.
  • Case Studies and Technical Resources: This is the latest edition of AUS-SPEC’s case study brochure. The value and usefulness of the AUS-SPEC specification system for the management of local government assets is examined through new case studies. It includes projects from the Mid North Coast Regional Organisation of Councils (MIDROC), Dubbo Regional Council and MidCoast Council. Technical articles that assist the use of AUS-SPEC and complement the case studies are also included.

Screen_Shot_2018-01-18_at_3_04_20_PM.pngThese brochures are freely available at www.natspec.com.au/resources/aus-spec-case-studies.

2017 AUS-SPEC Update

All AUS-SPEC packages are updated annually in October. In addition to the standards update to the 320 generic work sections included in the AUS-SPEC Complete Package, the 2017 update includes the following:

New work section and TECHnote on Pavement preservation

After identifying a need for a national approach to pavement preservation, AUS-SPEC developed the following new documents, in collaboration with the Downer Group, for the benefit of the industry:
  • 1147 Sprayed Preservation Surfacing: A work section for the supply of materials and application of spray applied preservation treatments to preserve, protect and prolong the life of existing wearing pavement surfaces.
  • NTN GEN 025 Sprayed Preservation Surfacing Treatments: This TECHnote, developed in conjunction with the new work section, assists road owners to determine when and where to apply the most appropriate sprayed preservation surfacing, to maximise benefits to their sealed road network.
These documents were widely reviewed by IPWEA Roads and Transport Directorate, the metropolitan and rural councils, and the major pavement preservation treatment suppliers involved in this process.

New TECHnotes

  • NTN DES 035 Improvement and stabilisation of unsealed roads: Describes how existing unsealed roads can be economically and effectively preserved.
  • NTN DES 036 Need for subsurface drainage on local roads: Assists road owners in identifying the need for subsurface drainage on local roads.

Reissued work sections

  • 1141 Flexible pavement base and subbase
  • 1142 Cold mix asphalt
  • 1143 Sprayed bituminous surfacing
  • 1144 Asphalt (Roadways)
  • 1146 Slurry seals and microsurfacing
  • 1171 Subsurface drainage
  • 1172 Subsoil and formation drains
  • 1173 Pavement drains
  • 1174 Drainage blankets
The new TECHnotes and the work sections relating to flexible pavements and subsurface drainage were also reviewed by AAPA, councils and suppliers.

For more information about AUS-SPEC, visit www.natspec.com.au.
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