Department of Transport and Main Roads

While the relationship between vehicle speed and crash risk and severity are well understood, precise quantifications of the attribution of speeding to casualty crashes remains more elusive, due in part to the lack of reliable network-wide speed survey data. A relatively new source of network-wide speed data is Global Positioning System (GPS) probe data. This paper explores the feasibility of using this data, along with existing crash risk estimates, to determine the proportion of casualty crashes attributable to travelling at various speeds above the posted limit on Queensland roads. Findings were generally consistent with other data sources, highlighting the danger associated with high-level speeding (more than 20 km/h over the speed limit), estimating that up to 32.5% of all casualty crashes were attributable to this behaviour. Analyses also showed the risks associated with low-level speeding (1-10km/h over the limit), with up to 19.2% of all casualty crashes estimated to be attributable to such behaviour. The implications of these findings on road safety are discussed. Notwithstanding the limitations of GPS speed probe data, the findings suggest that it represents a promising source of network-wide speed data for estimating the attribution of speeding in casualty crashes. Efforts should be made to improve the reliability of this data by increasing the representativeness of vehicles contributing to the data.

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BackgroundThe RSDB Road Safety Data Bureau (RSDB) was established in 2019 as an innovative cross-agency, co-located team in Queensland, Australia. It consists of four participating agencies, namely the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC), Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), Queensland Police Service (QPS), and Queensland Health (QH).AimsThe objectives are to facilitate data linkage between agencies, establish a linked database with road crash, hospital admission, police, ambulance, and insurance claim data to inform trauma health services and road safety. The RSDB also conducts strategic research projects using secondary data from a variety of sources.MethodsThe RSDB has gained approvals and established a process with QH-Statistical Analysis and Linkage Unit (SALU) for linkage to occur. Data sources to be linked include the Queensland Road Crash Data (QRCD), Queensland Hospitals Admitted Patient Data Collection (QHAPDC), Emergency Department Collection (EDC) and Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS). A linked database is being developed to enable better estimation of the true burden of serious road trauma.Results/FindingsData linkage across governmental agencies will allow better counting of serious injuries, particularly to cyclists and motorcyclists, which are currently under-reported in road crash data. It will also provide an in-depth understanding of injury types as well as confirm hospital admission, all of which will improve understanding of road-related trauma in Queensland.ConclusionData-linkage undertaken by the RSDB will inform whole-of-government decision-making and approaches to road safety policy and injury prevention.

Wood-glass-fiber composite materials (WGFCM) are used in transport construction (sleepers, switch bars, etc.). Polymer solutions based on furfuralacetone monomer (FAM) served as a matrix for the manufacture of WGFCM. The article suggests using Holex HAS- 2061 polyester resin as a matrix, which, in turn, has chemical resistance, dielectric properties, increased impact strength, having sufficient strength characteristics, and significant extensibility. For the application of the above material in the structural elements of sleepers of logging railways, it is necessary to know its operation under repeated loading. Endurance experiments were conducted at different coefficients of the load application cycle asymmetry pb=0,1; 0,3; 0,6. As a result of the experiments, the values of the endurance limit of the material under study were obtained, which allow us to conclude that it can be used in the construction of timber railway sleepers.

Effective traffic incident management requires separate responder agencies, with different and sometimes competing priorities and purposes, to come together as a team. Their priorities include optimizing casualty outcomes, minimizing the disruption to the flow of traffic, and maintaining responder team safety. In this study, team Cognitive Work Analysis was used in a desktop exercise setting to analyze a complex traffic incident management exercise. The study investigated decisions made at the scene of an incident to determine system issues and system support solutions. Participants were all senior officers and decision makers in traffic incident management environments. Results indicated that team Cognitive Work Analysis was highly beneficial in determining gaps in team coordination, communication, and structures. Information regarding shared and not shared work elements between agencies highlighted novel coordination and education requirements within and between agencies, such as disparate priorities at the scene creating the risk of interoperability issues. Analyses of operational, coordination, and structural strategies offered new insights into the traffic incident management work domain and recommendations for improvements to the safety and performance of the overall traffic incident management system.

ABSTRACT A semi-automated multi-offset ground penetrating radar (GPR) analysis method called Ray-path Modelling Coherence (RM–C) was developed and field tested. It was used to quasi-continuously predict the depth, permittivity and volumetric moisture content of unbound granular (UBG) layers along a pavement site during two investigations using ground-coupled measurements from a 3-D GPR array. Predictions from the later site visit were compared to physical measurements of layer depth and moisture content at a number of locations along the site, which in general agreed well. RM-C permittivity predictions were compared to results from time domain reflectometery (TDR) sensors and diffraction hyperbola fitting of buried reflectors. The new approach reported higher permittivity values compared to these other methods, although showed similar trends in permittivity change with respect to pavement depth and ⁠variation over time. Reproducibility of the RM–C analysis was confirmed by comparing layer depth and moisture content predictions for repeat runs along the site, although occasional discrepancies were observed.

Enrobe a module eleve Class 2 (EME2) is currently being introduced into Queensland which has a warm sub-tropical climate. While the French design system for flexible pavements directly applies inputs from performance-based mix design, immediate implementation of such a system in Queensland was inhibited by the existing Australian pavement design methodology which does not make such links. In addition, there has been limited application of EME2 in similar climates as in Queensland. The execution of a manufacturing and paving trial, including collection of pavement temperature at various depths over a one-year period, provided vital input into the technology transfer. Flexural modulus temperature-frequency sweep tests, and a series of asphalt fatigue tests at 10, 20 and 30 °C were carried out. The results provide input into the LCPC-developed methodology for calculating asphalt fatigue properties at a given equivalent temperature, and now is utilized and validated for a warm sub-tropical climate.

An experimental programme in 2007 used three air-suspended Heavy Vehicles (HVs) travelling over typical urban roads to determine whether dynamic axle-to-chassis forces could be reduced by using larger-than-standard diameter longitudinal air lines. This paper presents methodology, interim analysis and partial results from that program. Alterations to dynamic measures derived from axle-to-chassis forces with standard-sized longitudinal air lines vs. larger longitudinal air lines fitted are presented and discussed.

Design flood estimation for small- and medium-sized catchments is a frequent requirement for a wide range of projects. While each individual project in this category is likely to be relatively small, the total value of projects that rely on design floods for the design is very high. The currently adopted approaches for Queensland are published in Australian Rainfall & Runoff. Several approaches are described, though the Main Roads Rational Method (MRRM) is predominant in practice. This method has been used throughout Queensland for many years, but the basis of the method is not considered reliable because of the lack of recorded data used in the development and the lack of independent testing. The development of the new procedure described in this paper has used all suitable streamflow data available for the state. It therefore has a better foundation and the results can be accepted with more confidence. The approach presented uses the quantile regression technique to develop a procedure for calculating design floods for ungauged catchments that relates the design flood discharges to readily available catchment characteristics. The method is then tested against the currently available MRRM. This paper provides an input to part of the upgrade of Australian Rainfall & Runoff, currently underway.