Bridges

Bridges on the Australian highway network are ageing, just as economic demands require increasing freight volumes. New trucks are continually being developed, and this has accelerated under the new National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s Performance-Based Standards (PBS) for High- Productivity Freight Vehicles. An efficient process for making decisions about vehicle access to the road network is essential.

In recent years, VicRoads has been reviewing and updating its assessment procedures. As part of this, a new software tool termed VAT – Vehicle Assessment Tool has been developed in partnership with Monash University. This paper describes the overall vehicle assessment framework being adopted by VicRoads and the role of VAT within it.

Further, a number of interesting technical challenges were addressed in the development of VAT, and these are explained here. Other road authorities, PBS assessors, and interested parties should find this work timely and useful, as they address similar problems.