Road authorities now owe a duty of care to users of roads and footpaths. Recent High Court decisions indicate that the authority ‘is obliged to take reasonable steps’ to inspect the condition of its assets and know about ‘latent dangers which might reasonably be suspected to exist’. Turning this to a positive, the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA) considers that a disciplined, proactive inspection system is a key element of a good maintenance management system. Documentation is also an essential element.
This is where AUS-SPEC #4, a road reserve maintenance system, has much to offer road authorities. AUS-SPEC is a joint venture between IPWEA and Sinclair Knight Merz. AUS-SPEC #4 provides the framework for clearly defined quality based intervention levels, area inspections and response times to minimise risks.
Emphasis is on proactive maintenance. Councils are able to target defects in civil infrastructure, catalogue the problems and then set about eliminating the problems based on the seriousness of the defect.
AUS-SPEC #4 provides a system where Councils are able to identify potential risk areas by employing an inspection regime. The system allows Councils to target defects or problem areas by inspecting and recording areas that require maintenance.
There are four steps involved in the AUS-SPEC #4 road maintenance system.
- Categorising each road
- Defect/need recording level
- Response time
- Compulsory intervention level.
The results are then logged into the Maintenance Defect Register (MDR), and acted upon on a case by case basis, with the most urgent areas of attention seen to first.
For more information contact Bill Woodcock on (02) 9928 2523, email bwoodcock@skm.com.au, or visit www.ipwea.org.au/AUS-SPEC.
