Land Development Engineering

Hi All,

First post in the forum! 

I have a commercial subdivision development designing a Service road and a exit ramp from service road onto PHwy through traffic lane (std crossfall graded against ramp grade of 13-17% driving down to traffic lane. 

Q- Is there a standard way to check truck rollover/bottoming out or tanker/trailer smashing onto drivers cabin etc for a steep driveway/access ramps? 

I have provided a typical cross section, long section and kerb alignment to provide a context . 

As Council engineer approving this design for construction, I am just being extra cautious as any fuel tanker potentially rolling over/punching a hole in tanker or just having a King pin snapped while negotiating adverse change of grade can create chaos or potentially disaster (fuel spill , explosion, Highway blocked etc). 

Is there any design guideline (AGRD part X or anything from other states than Vic) for such scenario that I can refer to? Obviously I can leave this to a design consultant but I thought its a good case study for me to learn from. 

Any sort of help or prompt guidance would be greatly appreciated as I am working under very very tight timeframes as works are already underway and I have no powers to hold off works but still hoping to pursue design variations prior to PC/SOC. 

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Milan Patel
Cardinia Shire Council
Cranbourne
Australia
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Hi Milan,

I can't assist with the technical aspect of the enquiry, however a standard requirement of all development applications is that the consultants provide information sufficient to explain and manage the impact to the community, and in this case the impact of heavy vehicles accessing the highway. This is especially important at the stage where you need to approve engineering designs as you are not the designer. So I recommend you list your concerns and specific design matters and request a formally response from the developer's consultant. This could include requesting confirmation of what standards have been referenced, turning movement diagrams, underbody clearance diagrams and so on. 

If further information from the developer is still not resolving your concerns, you should then seek an independent peer review or design audit / road safety audit as required. Check with your statutory planning team as to whether this cost can be charged to the developer.

Regards,

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Doug Bartlett
Principal Professional Asset Management
NTRO (National Transport Research Organisation)
Western Australia
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Thanks Doug for your input. For now we have put this back on Consultant to carry out Safety in Design checks. 

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Milan Patel
Cardinia Shire Council
milan.msp@gmail.com
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-08-2023 12:01
From: Doug Bartlett
Subject: Fuel Tanker Truck (19m) exiting from Steep Ramp onto a Highway pavement

Hi Milan,

I can't assist with the technical aspect of the enquiry, however a standard requirement of all development applications is that the consultants provide information sufficient to explain and manage the impact to the community, and in this case the impact of heavy vehicles accessing the highway. This is especially important at the stage where you need to approve engineering designs as you are not the designer. So I recommend you list your concerns and specific design matters and request a formally response from the developer's consultant. This could include requesting confirmation of what standards have been referenced, turning movement diagrams, underbody clearance diagrams and so on. 

If further information from the developer is still not resolving your concerns, you should then seek an independent peer review or design audit / road safety audit as required. Check with your statutory planning team as to whether this cost can be charged to the developer.

Regards,

------------------------------
Doug Bartlett
Principal Professional Asset Management
NTRO (National Transport Research Organisation)
Western Australia
------------------------------

Totally agree Doug,

Yes Milan, they should include all this information & more in the TIA to enable you to assess the traffic & safety performance of the development & any necessary mitigation measures to manage increased crash risks & traffic as a result of the development.

Regards

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Adam Mularczyk
Central Coast Council
Section Manager Engineering Certification
Wyong
Australia
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-08-2023 12:01
From: Doug Bartlett
Subject: Fuel Tanker Truck (19m) exiting from Steep Ramp onto a Highway pavement

Hi Milan,

I can't assist with the technical aspect of the enquiry, however a standard requirement of all development applications is that the consultants provide information sufficient to explain and manage the impact to the community, and in this case the impact of heavy vehicles accessing the highway. This is especially important at the stage where you need to approve engineering designs as you are not the designer. So I recommend you list your concerns and specific design matters and request a formally response from the developer's consultant. This could include requesting confirmation of what standards have been referenced, turning movement diagrams, underbody clearance diagrams and so on. 

If further information from the developer is still not resolving your concerns, you should then seek an independent peer review or design audit / road safety audit as required. Check with your statutory planning team as to whether this cost can be charged to the developer.

Regards,

------------------------------
Doug Bartlett
Principal Professional Asset Management
NTRO (National Transport Research Organisation)
Western Australia
------------------------------