ROADS AND TRANSPORT DIRECTORATE
ROAD INSPECTION MANUAL
A risk-based approach to managing road defects
NSW & ACT
Institute of Public Works Engineering (NSW Division) Limited Roads & Transport Directorate
MANAgE ROAD DEfECTS MANuAL
First Published 2021 © IPWEA NSW and ACT 2021 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without the prior written permission of IPWEA NSW and ACT.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing in-Publication data:
ISBN 978-0-6451183-0-8
Project Manager:
Arjan Rensen, Manager Roads and Transport Directorate
Manual prepared by WSP:
Greg Evans Paul Robinson Matt Taylor Laurence Origlia
Reference group:
Geoff Paton, Blayney Shire Council Aaron Dunne, Eurobodalla Shire Council Masoud Mohammadi, City of Canterbury Bankstown Chris Worrell, Mid-Western Regional Council Clint Fitzsummons, Nambucca Shire Council
Published by: Institute of Public Works Engineering (NSW Division) Limited
Level 12, 447 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000 Phone: +61 2 8267 3000
- Fax:
- +61 2 8267 3070
Email: [email protected] https://www.roadsdirectorate.org.au/
IPWEA NSW and ACT believes this publication to be correct at the time of printing and does not accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of information herein.
Table of Contents
- 1
- Introduction
- 1
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8
- General
- 2
2233445
Background Coverage Scope Objectives of the manual Roads and Transport Directorate AUS-SPEC Statewide Mutual
23
- IPWEA functional Road Classification
- 7
- Road Network Inspections
- 9
- 3.1
- Inspection requirements
- 10
10 10 10
3.1.1 Routine inspections 3.1.2 Prompted inspections 3.1.3 Inspection framework
3.2 3.3 3.4
- Inspection records
- 11
12 12
Information management Inspection process
456
Defect types and intervention standards Risk Management
13 17
- 19
- Risk based defect priority scoring system
- 6.1
- Defect priority score
6.1.1 Road score 6.1.2 Defect score 6.1.3 Defect priority score
20 20 21 23
- 6.2
- Council Road Asset Inspection Framework Tool
- 23
APPENDIX A IPWEA functional Road Hierarchy APPENDIX B Illustrated defects guide
25 27
- 37
- APPENDIX C Road Asset Inspection framework Tool
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1. INTRODUCTION
1. Introduction
1.1 general
Local government in NSW is responsible for over 165,000km of roads, including local and regional roads. Road operators have a duty of care to make sure road and transport assets are fit for purpose and safe to use by the community.
Inspecting road and transport assets to identify defects and managing known defects are an essential part of the responsibility of the road operator.
The purpose of this manual is to provide technical guidance and training to improve the skills of council staff involved in the inspection and management of local and regional road assets and to assist councils to maintain quality infrastructure to the community.
The manual presents councils with the background and methodology for carrying out road inspections and managing hazards and defects across their council road network.
To manage liability issues related to road defects it is essential for councils to have qualified road inspectors and a system to manage defects identified.
The manual is aligned with the guidance and training previously developed by Roads and Maritime Services NSW (RMS) and recently updated by Transport for NSW (TfNSW).
1.2 Background
A Lismore Coroner’s Court ruling in 2011, based on the investigation of a fatal crash on the Bruxner Highway, recommended that “a system be put in place whereupon the RMS is notified by relevant councils of the name and qualifications of employees charged with road inspections and that no such person be employed for that purpose without prior RMS approval”.
The Coroner further clarified that the recommendation pertains to all councils who perform work for RMS pursuant to a Road Maintenance Council Contract (RMCC). Since then, training courses have been developed by RMS and council asset inspectors are to undertake the training as part of the RMCC contractual obligations. The training is required for all asset inspectors with regular refresher courses when the relevant specifications change ensuring the training is current and relevant.
Audits of the RMCC include checks that the training has been completed to ensure councils meet the obligations of the RMCC and the Coroner’s recommendations.
If a council has an RMCC contract then it must ensure its asset inspectors are trained and competent. This requirement will be satisfied if the asset inspectors have undertaken the RMS training and it is kept up to date. Audits of the RMCC contract include checks on this requirement being met.
Training currently provided by TfNSW is provided for asset inspectors in councils with an RMCC contract and this training is applicable to State Roads only.
1.3 Coverage
The Manual covers inspections of roads managed by local government. Roads managed by local government are classified as local or regional roads.
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Table 1-1: NSW Road Network
Road Length in km
Sealed
15,192 68,469 83,661 18,000
101,661
unsealed
3,206
Total
Regional Roads1 Local Roads
18,398 146,949 165,347 21,000
186,346
78,480 81,685 3,000
Total Council Roads State Roads
- Total NSW Roads
- 84,685
Source: IPWEA NSW Road Asset Benchmarking Project, 2017
Transport for NSW (TfNSW) utilises Road Maintenance Council Contracts (RMCC) to establish a collaborative contractual relationship between TfNSW and council to provide maintenance services on the State road network.
TfNSW provides mandatory training for road inspectors employed by councils to be sufficiently trained to conduct inspections on state roads under the RMCC.
This manual provides similar guidance to assist council staff to inspect the council road network. The terminology used in this manual is consistent with the terminology used by TfNSW in its Routine Maintenance Specification (M3) and associated training.
1.4 Scope
The Manual addresses the following for each road class of council roads:
••••
Inspection intervals Defect and prescribed actions Trigger levels for maintenance and repair Assets included
The IPWEA Condition Assessment and Asset Performance Guidelines, Practice Note 9 2015, Road Pavements (Visual Assets), introduces a set of important themes which are of direct relevance to the Manual (www.ipwea.org).
1.5 Objectives of the manual
The manual is required to bring a degree of state-wide harmonisation in the method by which road hazard and defect information is recorded and acted upon across council road networks. This helps in establishing a more consistent risk-based approach to duty of care obligations.
The manual has the following key objectives:
••
To monitor the condition of assets and determine when maintenance intervention is likely to be required. To implement systems and processes that promote consistency in the identification and rectification of defects across the road network.
•
To establish a process that will effectively manage the identification and rectification of hazards.
There are a wide range of statutory requirements relating to roads. Asset managers must be aware of the legislation and regulations applicable to their circumstances.
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The community relies on the service providers to make sure that the road facilities are fit for purpose and safe to use. This is part of their stewardship role including their legal and regulatory obligations and their general obligation to the public at large. This involves an obligation to act diligently, with appropriate expertise to provide for public safety, environment protection and financial prudence. It has a bearing on the frequency and scope of inspections. It will determine when and what actions need to be initiated to achieve the desired outcomes. This is largely a risk management issue.
Council staff and contractors need to have an understanding of potential exposure to claims of negligence in failing to maintain the roadway in a safe and proper manner. The old ‘highway rule’ considered the issues of malfeasance, nonfeasance and misfeasance. Malfeasance occurs when the act is intentional, whereas misfeasance is completed accidentally. Nonfeasance (not doing something) and misfeasance (doing something wrong) are very similar terms and courts often have a difficult time differentiating them. They both denote a failure to act when action is required.
1.6 Roads and Transport Directorate
The Roads and Transport Directorate is a joint initiative between the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia NSW Division and Local Government NSW to optimise roads and transport outcomes.
The purpose of the Directorate is to support our member councils to deliver an improved local road and transport network.
A network that meets the future needs of the community, industry and economy. A network that is safer for all users and that meets movement and place expectations from local communities. A network that uses resources wisely and is mindful of its impact on the environment.
Member councils are collectively responsible for the management of over 165,000 kilometres of roads valued at more than $70 billion representing the single largest community asset in New South Wales.
To succeed in this task, the Directorate undertakes leading-edge road and transport research which underpins our input to policy development, our advocacy initiatives and our published guidance on the design, construction and management of the road network and its associated infrastructure.
1.7 AuS-SPEC
AUS-SPEC covers planning and design, tendering, contract preliminaries, construction, maintenance, and operations of local government assets. AUS-SPEC provides standard specification to be used by councils to develop their own specifications for the construction and maintenance of council assets, including road and transport assets. It is recommended to use the AUS-SPEC documentation in conjunction with this manual.
The AUS-SPEC maintenance system is based on quality management, competitive principles, and programmed maintenance. It reflects the move from predominantly direct control, responsive maintenance, and operations to the proactive approach. The system allows asset owners to balance the level of service provided with the maintenance and operations budget available and prepare documentation for in-house and/or external maintenance contracts. It includes records of asset inspections, defects registers, programmed and prioritised works and periodic reports of completed works. These records and reports improve the maintenance history and asset inventory and provide a defence against possible litigation.
AUS-SPEC includes 46 maintenance Activity specifications which defines the specific maintenance activity, performance distress and defects, performance criteria, performance standards, work method statement to carry out the works, checklists of programmed work, test requirements and hold points. Examples of documents available include, but are not limited to 1614 Crack sealing, 1619 Minor patching, 1620 Pothole repair,1673 Street seats and bus shelters.
AUS-SPEC: The proactive approach to asset maintenance: http://www.natspec.com.au/images/PDF/The_proactive_approach_to_asset_maintenance.pdf.
For more information visit www.natspec.com.au.
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1.8 Statewide Mutual
Statewide Mutual, the largest local government self-insurance pool in Australia, provides assistance to implement risk management solutions to make communities safer, promote best practice in risk management and to reduce the incidence of claims.
Statewide Mutual provides best practice manuals for risk management of public assets managed by local government. An example is the manual to assess the risks of defects on the road network (Roads - Version 6: June 2019).
Where possible and applicable this manual is aligned with the Statewide Mutual’s approach to risk management. https://www.statewidemutual.com.au.
1
Up to 15,000km of regional roads might be transferred to the NSW government in coming years and some local roads may be reclassified as regional roads.
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2. IPWEA FUNCTIONAL ROAD
CLASSIFICATION
2. IPWEA functional Road Classification
The Roads and Transport Directorate identifies four functional road classifications for the local government road network in NSW.
The four classifications are as follows and cover both sealed and unsealed roads.
Table 2-1: IPWEA functional Road Classification
IPWEA functional road classifications
Arterial
• Include all roads declared as regional roads by TfNSW. • Carry traffic to, from and across council areas. • General link larger communities and are critical connectivity routes.
Primary Collector
• Provide connections between arterial parts of the network and the local collector network. • Generally, link medium sized towns and provides connectivity between the local population and the state road network.
Local Collector
• Provide access to the primary collector network from the local access roads. • Connects smaller communities and provides connectivity within the local community.
Local Access
• Provides access to local properties.
The above road hierarchy is provided for guidance only and is not intended to replace existing functional classifications which may already be in use by councils.
A copy of the IPWEA Functional Road Classification is included in Appendix A.
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3. ROAD NETWORk INSPECTIONS
3. Road Network Inspections
3.1 Inspection requirements
Defects and asset condition should be identified and assessed during visual inspections of the council road network to manage any safety or performance issues. These inspections should be undertaken by suitably trained and competent personnel.
There are several levels of inspection that can be carried out depending upon the asset type and nature of the inspection.
3.1.1 Routine inspections
These Inspections generally involve driving each road carriageway and on-foot inspection of some assets such as rest areas and toilets. Roads are inspected in one direction only but the direction of travel alternates between consecutive inspections.
Inspections at night involve driving each road in both directions to identify delineation defects and evaluate overall night time driving conditions.
3.1.2 Prompted inspections
These inspections are usually triggered by a specific event like a storm or emergency incident, a public complaint or an informal or ad hoc inspection by council staff.
They can also be prompted by the need to carry out inspections on-foot away from the roadway such as inspecting culverts, noise walls, drainage structures and the like.
They can also be used to carry out detailed inspections of pavements to develop forward works programs.
3.1.3 Inspection framework
The following inspection types and frequencies are recommended as a starting point for councils to consider.
Table 3-1: Suggested Inspection Type and frequency for each road class
Inspection
- Description
- Purpose
- Inspection frequency
Type
Arterial Road Primary Collector Local Collector Local Access
Routine Inspection
Daytime Inspection
Inspect the sealed pavement network for visible defects at normal driving speed
- 2 weeks
- 1 month
- 6 weeks
- 2 months
Routine Inspection
Night-time Inspection
- Inspect the
- 12 months
- 24 months
- 36 months
- 48 months
sealed pavement network for defects arising from poor or misleading delineation or guidance
- Routine
- Unsealed
pavement Inspection
Daytime Inspection of the unsealed pavement network for pavement and other defects
- 3 months
- 6 months
- 9 months
- 12 months
Inspection – unsealed pavement network
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Inspection
Type
- Description
- Purpose
- Inspection frequency
Arterial Road Primary Collector Local Collector Local Access
Prompted Inspection
- Storms &
- Undertake
- 1 week
- 2 weeks
- 3 weeks
- 4 weeks
Emergencies inspection of assets following heavy rains, storms, bushfires or accidents (after emergency response has rendered the situation safe)
Prompted Inspection* Complaint
- Public
- Undertake
inspection
- 1 week
- 2 weeks
- 3 weeks
- 4 weeks
prompted by a public complaint
Specific Inspections Purpose
Inspections
- Specific
- Undertake
- As determined As determined by As determined As determined
- by council council by council by council
- inspections for a
specific purpose such as off-road inspections of culverts, slopes or on-road inspections of pavements to determine overall network condition
* Whenever a defect or hazard is reported that presents a high risk to the community a council would be expected to inspect the issue as soon as practically possible.
All defects that present a high risk to the community require that the situation is made safe until the risk can be permanently reduced. With the exception of natural disasters that result in several hazards at once.
It is recommended that each council use the above as a template to modify inspection frequencies for their road network and hierarchy to match their particular needs, including the resourcing, funding and level of services required and available to their council area. This should ensure that the selected process is practical and achievable. The highest priority (and highest risk) roads should be considered first.