Tuesday, 15 September 2020
Nationally, bridge assessment processes are a key constraint in delivering reliable and timely heavy vehicle access to the road network. The large range of vehicle types and masses on an equally diverse range of bridge types and sizes requires detailed engineering analysis that can be costly, time consuming and hindered by inadequate data.
In this context, Austroads has published a scoping study assessing the feasibility of developing a National Heavy Vehicle Bridge Assessment System.
The study describes what the system could look like and the benefits it would deliver. It envisages the system would:
- automate and compare calculated infrastructure impacts caused by loading from a nominated vehicle with the known capacity of the structure, recorded against all the structures in the database
- be capable of plotting bespoke networks for a given vehicle in real-time or near real-time
- access national data for bridge structures.
Delivering timely and transparent responses to bridge access requests and queries would help resolve longstanding constraining issues for Performance Based Standards vehicles, Oversize/Overmass and Special Purpose Vehicles. Automation would help speed the highly variable and sophisticated business rules for engineering assessment that sit behind access determination for structures.
While the study found a strong case for a National Heavy Vehicle Bridge Assessment System, there are still many questions to answer about the integration with existing systems, asset data requirements, jurisdictional structural assessment methodology requirements, and cost and governance arrangements.
Consequently, the study recommends a more detailed options evaluation be undertaken to support future investment and implementation decisions. Austroads will soon launch this detailed options evaluation as part of its upcoming project NEF6274, approved by its Board in July 2020.
Download: Scoping Study for a National Heavy Vehicle Bridge Assessment System