A protocol for conducting field trials for best value management of unsealed roads

The Australian road network consists of over 500,000 km of unsealed roads, which is about 60 per cent of the total road network. Approximately A$1 billion is spent annually on maintaining this network. Maintenance costs per kilometre are high; unsealed roads are also the largest consumer of natural materials in the infrastructure industry. Any contribution to reducing these two prime factors will have a significant effect on triple-bottom-line considerations (i.e. cost, environment and social factors). This paper describes the evaluation of in situ stabilised unsealed roads in remote locations. Issues addressed include material availability and deficiency, construction logistics, binder selection, pavement performance and economic evaluation. Some statistics regarding the prevalence of unsealed roads in the region are also presented. Details of a protocol for the evaluation of unsealed roads stabilised in situ - and a Commonwealth/state road authority-funded trial in the Northern Territory set up to evaluate the protocol - are also presented. Whilst no comparisons are made regarding the performance of each product, the paper presents a rational approach to the selection of the best material available and consideration of stabilisation where its properties can be improved. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E220164.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Pagination: 14P

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01332507
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: ARRB
  • ISBN: 187659263X
  • Files: ITRD, ARRB, ATRI
  • Created Date: Mar 15 2011 10:56AM