A new push by regional councils for more funding for rural roads has attracted media attention around the country this week.
A group of regional councils reportedly met in Canberra last month to establish a Rural Road Group to lobby for increased Federal funding for maintenance of the ‘first mile’ from the farm gate.
According to the SMH this week, new research indicates that the rural road funding shortfall is set to worsen, underlining the group’s focus and agenda.
In other news, the skills crisis has again been making headlines with today’s Australian newspaper reporting on a new industry audit that’s found electrical, energy and communications jobs are being sucked up by the mining industry.
The Federal Government has committed $350,000 to fund the first two projects of the Australian National Engineering Taskforce (ANET), focussed on engineering skill shortages in the roads and rail sectors.
The first project will study demand and supply of engineering skills while the second will research pathways for engineering education in the vocational education and training and university sectors.
ANET is a coalition of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA), Engineers Australia, the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia, the Deans of Engineering and the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
The Taskforce will carry out the research projects over the course of this year. A report on the findings will be finalised by the end of 2010.
APESMA Director of Planning and Development, Paul Davies, said last week that the decision demonstrated the Government’s support for key skills development to ensure better community infrastructure.
“The chronic shortfall in Australia’s engineering services capacity, which is well-recognised by Government and business, is already hitting key engineering services and impacting on infrastructure quality, productivity and cost,” he said.
“The resources boom is drawing engineering professionals out of other infrastructure sectors, like roads and rail, leaving these industries with reduced capacity to provide and maintain vital community infrastructure."
The ANET projects will:
The NSW Government last week announced a $170 million package of road safety measures, including the re-introduction of mobile speed cameras, to curb the state’s rising road toll.
Key parts of the package announced by NSW Transport and Roads Minister, David Campbell include:
Mr Campbell said the package was in addition to the $234 million spent on road safety initiatives this financial year.
Another important milestone was passed this week in the construction of Brisbane’s $4.8 billion Airport Link, with four kilometres - or one quarter - of the tunnelling work completed.
Work at the Bowen Hills site was progressing well with four road headers currently working in the tunnels, Deputy Premier, Paul Lucas, said this week.
“A massive 274-metre cavern is also under construction which will form a Y junction for the Lutwyche Road off-ramp,” Mr Lucas said.
“When complete it will be the largest cavern built in Brisbane,” Mr Lucas said.
Qld Infrastructure Minister, Stirling Hinchliffe, said that at the other end of the project’s corridor at Toombul, two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) would tunnel four kilometres to Lutwyche starting in a few months.
The first machine is currently being assembled at Toombul while the second arrived this week on a ship from Germany. Mr Hinchliffe said the 3,600 tonne TBM, purpose-built for Australia’s largest ever infrastructure project, was delivered in three container shipments.
“Once fully assembled the machine will be 195 metres in length, longer than Suncorp Stadium’s playing field," he said.
“Once the Tunnel Boring Machines are operational, a two-kilometre conveyor will transport about 1.1 million tonnes of soil excavated from the Toombul site to Nudgee Road.
“2600 tonnes of spoil, equivalent to about 81 truck and dog trailer loads, will be moved every hour by the conveyor which is now under construction.”
Mr Hinchliffe said a project of this scale has never been seen before.
The project, which is being designed and constructed by Thiess John Holland, along with the Airport Link toll road and the Airport Roundabout Upgrade, is part of a massive $4.8 billion infrastructure investment on Brisbane's Northside.
The Victorian Government is targeting road safety offences in Melbourne’s CBD this month as part of its ongoing strategy to alleviate congestion and ease road trauma.
Victorian Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, said this week Melbourne’s CBD was now among the top ten road trauma areas in the state, with a targeted road safety blitz by VicRoads and Victoria Police aimed at delivering safer and easier travel for people in the area.
Targeted offences would include failing to give way to pedestrians and public transport, driving in bus, tram or bicycle lanes, stopping in ‘Keep Clear’ markings, parking in clearways and failing to obey traffic signals.
Mr Pallas said VicRoads would also be looking out for offences that slowed down travel in the city, including vehicles blocking intersections or public transport and double parking.
“Importantly, improving traffic flow through the CBD will also reduce delays in public transport. Reducing congestion will make a significant difference to the journeys of thousands of road users in cars, trams, buses and on bikes,” the Minister said.
The 2010 Roads Australia Summit is fast approaching, but there is still time to register for what promises to be a landmark event. The Summit takes place in Sydney at WatersEdge on April 22 and 23.
The latest program for the two-day event in Sydney is available at the RA website. Participants can also register at the website.
This year's Summit is supported by Gold Sponsors Abigroup, ARRB, Hyder, Leighton Contractors and SKM, as well as Silver Sponsor, Clayton Utz.
The John Shaw Medal dinner, to be held on the evening of April 22 and sponsored by Parsons Brinckerhoff, is now sold out.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday April 9th 2010 2:22pm
© 2008 Roads Australia. Roads Australia does not warrant, guarantee or make any representations regarding the currency, accuracy, correctness, reliability, useability, or any other aspect, of the material presented in Roads Australia Insider, nor of material provided by others to Roads Australia and presented in this newsletter, nor of material provided by others and accessed from this site using links or connections to their Web sites or distribution services. The user accepts sole responsibility and all risk for using material presented on or accessed from Roads Australia Insider. Roads Australia does not accept any liability for any loss or damage which may be incurred as a result of using Roads Australia Insider or any material presented in or accessed from Roads Australia Insider.