Tending to the roads is among Wagga Wagga City Council’s most significant tasks. The process behind preserving our extensive road network can be more complicated than them first appears.

With 2288 kilometres of roads to love within Wagga Wagga’s nearby government area, maintaining the network is really a critical element of Council’s possessions management strategy. Far from selecting which roads to hold on an ad hoc schedule, there’s a very comprehensive strategy behind it.
Software and experts
The method begins with laser x-ray route profiling, where every several years an automated profilometer device scans the surfaces with the road network, detecting flaws. The device provides information which allows roads to be condition-rated over a scale between 1–5; 1 being excellent, 5 being very poor. This gives Council’s Maintenance Management team an incredible understanding of the condition with the total road network – knowledge that allows them to develop a new draft road maintenance course.

The next step will involve an in-person site validation. Jamie Harwood, Engineer – Maintenance Management, is considered one of Council’s experts who buckle around ‘read the road’.

“Every yr, surveillance officers head out to drive the complete network, checking the route surface and base circumstances, ” said Mr Harwood.
LocalMAY 17, 2020 2: 05 PM AESTShare
Examining roads: how Council controls your road network






Tending to the roads is one among Wagga Wagga City Council’s most important tasks. The process behind having our extensive road network can be more complicated than that first appears.

With 2288 kilometres of roads to love within Wagga Wagga’s community government area, maintaining the network is a critical element of Council’s possessions management strategy. Far from selecting which roads to keep on an ad hoc time frame, there’s a very specific strategy behind it.

Bots and experts
The progression begins with laser x-ray highway profiling, where every three years an automated profilometer apparatus scans the surfaces of the road network, detecting disorders. The device provides information which allows roads to be condition-rated using a scale between 1–5; 1 being excellent, 5 currently being very poor. This gives Council’s Maintenance Management team a fantastic understanding of the condition on the total road network – knowledge that permits them to develop your draft road maintenance course.

The next step consists of an in-person site validation. Jamie Harwood, Professional – Maintenance Management, is probably Council’s experts who buckle as much as ‘read the road’.

“Every 12 months, surveillance officers head out to drive your entire network, checking the road surface and base conditions, ” said Mr Harwood.



“When you have a look at the road you can physical exercises whether it’s a foundation or surface issue with the pattern of cracks as well as the surface shape. If it’s the base problem, we’ll ought to fix the entire road through the bottom to the major; if it’s a exterior issue, we just should resurface it with your binder and aggregate. ”

Route priorities
Once the roads assessment process is finish, the roads with their individual condition rankings – gathered from the robotic profiling and skilled site validation – will be grouped into categories.

Within each category it comes with an acceptable threshold rating, that helps determine the highway requiring attention. Some belonging to the parameters Council work using to prioritise proposed roadworks tend to be traffic volume, traffic tons, road deterioration and traffic speed.

“When it pertains speed, for example, we give high-speed regional roads a higher priority, ” said Mr Harwood.

“Vehicles hitting a pothole in 100 km/h are at greater risk of harm than those encountering similar pothole at 50 km/h. ”
Making decisions
Once all facts is consolidated, the team makes an informed decision regarding the treatment for just about every particular road segment – choosing between general maintenance, resealing, rehabilitation, or reconstruction.

Mr Harwood was pleased to quell concerns that Council spent the majority of its efforts maintaining smaller side streets as opposed to larger, busier streets.

“The smaller streets which have been getting maintained require less work as it is normally preventive maintenance, ” reported Mr Harwood.

“This may give that impression that we’re only doing small street sections for the reason that we can cover much more road network and might move site to web page.

“In fact, we spend a substantial proportion of Council’s funds on major road systems – recent examples will be Farrer Road, Holbrook Path, Lake Albert Road, Fernleigh Roads and Elizabeth Avenue. ”.
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