Life cycle maintenance of low volume roads in the Alice Springs region

Underhill, Richard (2004) Life cycle maintenance of low volume roads in the Alice Springs region. [USQ Project]

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Abstract

1. INTRODUCTION. Low volume roads carry low volumes of traffic which can be anything from a bicycle to a
fully loaded road train and these roads tend to be not well funded in comparison with the
major roads.
The Northern Territory's road network consists of national and regional highways as well
as other roads linking the remote areas and major centres and majority of the roads in the
Alice Springs Region are low volume roads.
The aim of this project is to investigate and develop improvements to low volume road
maintenance practices and procedures in the Alice Springs Region.
2. BACKGROUND.
During wet weather the unsealed roads become impassable and the communities that rely
on the roads become impatient if the roads are impassable for longer than two days. During
long periods of dry weather patches of the unsealed roads deteriorate into bull dust and the
pavement unravels due to the lack of moisture.
Funding for low volume roads are limited and the increase of the Cyclical Maintenance
budget each financial year is in line with the CPI rate. Specific Maintenance projects are
very limited and capital works are very rare.
3. OBJECTIVES.
With limited funding and resources for low volume roads, effective maintenance
management should be able to provide a road surface that is of an acceptable standard to
the road user.
The methods researched will be used to examine the cost implications and resources
availability.
4. METHOD.
The stages involved in the execution of the project include: - Review existing literature on road management practices, with particular emphasis on maintenance practices for low volume roads. - Gather data on low volume roads in the Alice Springs Region and factors which influence the deterioration of the road. - Collect and analyse data on the current maintenance practices in the region. - Evaluate and propose innovative maintenance practices that improve effectiveness and efficiency, and promote sustainable use of materials. - Interrogate and evaluate the implications of the cost and resources availability of applying selected maintenance innovations in the region.
5. CONCLUSION.
There is scope for improvement of the current cyclic maintenance methods used even
through there is associated problems with remoteness, availability of water and quality of
gravel.

Statistics for this ePrint Item

Item Type:	USQ Project
Refereed:	No
Item Status:	Live Archive
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Faculty of Engineering and Surveying - Department of Agricultural, Civil and Environmental Engineering (Up to 30 Jun 2013)
Date Deposited:	11 Oct 2007 00:14
Last Modified:	02 Jul 2013 22:30
Uncontrolled Keywords:	life cycle maintenance, low volume roads, Alice Springs
Fields of Research (2008):	09 Engineering > 0905 Civil Engineering > 090507 Transport Engineering
Fields of Research (2020):	40 ENGINEERING > 4005 Civil engineering > 400512 Transport engineering
URI:	https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/88

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