-
Council's road network totals 1,417.25km in
length and is valued at $191 million. The road network is
Council's major physical asset.
-
Road maintenance is a $5.2 million annual
operation (excluding bridges), this represents 14% of
Council’s General Fund revenue (your rates).
Council's road network and works programs 2007/2008
Road classification
The road network is divided into two
classifications, local and regional:
-
Regional roads are owned and maintained by
Council even though they have been categorised as regional roads
(main arterial roads) by the RTA. These major arterial roads receive funding from the
State Government via the RTA for maintenance and rehabilitation.
-
Local roads are the rest of Council’s road
network that provide for the local communities.
The road network is further broken down into
rural roads, sealed and unsealed and urban streets, sealed and
unsealed.
-
Rural roads are outside of the 50/60km
signs that define a town or village.
-
Urban streets are
within the town and village confines, which is usually inside the 50/60km
signs.
This division is reflected through the capital works and
maintenance programs and funding.
Road hierarchy
Council’s unsealed road network has been
further divided into the following road hierarchies:
|
'C' class unsealed roads |
-
three maintenance grades per year
-
all school bus and/or milk tanker routes
-
arterial roads with greater traffic
|
|
'B' class unsealed roads |
|
|
'A' class unsealed roads |
-
not maintained by Council
|
This hierarchy was introduced to provide a
higher level of service on school bus, milk tanker routes and
arterial roads and to better match an achievable level of
service to the available budget.
There are also approximately 30km of unsealed
urban streets to maintain and these are also considered as 'C' class
roads.
Road length
The total length of the rural road and
the urban street networks is:
-
Rural road network totals 1,158.27km
and is made up of local roads (sealed - 243.42km, unsealed -
658.26 km) and regional roads (sealed 203.97km, unsealed
25.62km).
Council also has a total of 227 bridges of
which 67 are timber and 160 are non timber, these are also
categorised as local (timber - 56, non timber - 104) and regional
(timber - 11, non timber - 56).
Local bridge maintenance is funded by Council's General Fund (your
rates) and regional road bridges are funded externally by the
Regional Road Block Grant from the RTA.
Road maintenance
Sealed roads
-
Bitumen Maintenance is not just filling in potholes.
The operation includes pavement
patching, heavy patching, reseals, drain cleaning and guide
posting.
Council has two jetpatchers, one is a 6m3 patcher that
is used for rural bitumen patching and the other is a 4m3
patcher used for urban patching. Both of the jetpatcher
crews work on a routine schedule. Urgent repairs are
programmed into the routine schedule and these are identified
by the Bitumen and Town Team Leaders. The Jetpatcher also
carries out at least one private job per week.
Heavy patching is
carried out using a milling attachment on a bobcat. A
contract broom truck is hired for one day per week to sweep
the pavement repaired by the heavy patching and jetpatcher. Heavy patching and jetpatcher
crews are also responsible for all repairs and are required
to prepare the pavement for the reseal programs.
The boom mower that works on the gravel roads removing
vegetation during winter also slashes the road shoulders on
the bitumen roads during spring, summer and autumn. There is
also a second slasher that assists with shoulder slashing
and carries out urban area 'heavy' mowing and fire break
maintenance. In addition to the slashers there is a scrub
cutting crew operating for approximately six months of the
year.
The teams work 8.5 hours per day over a 9 day fortnight.
The total available budget is
therefore a
combination of individual budgets and totals $2,687,000.
| |
Amount |
Budget Source |
Funding Source |
Main Activity |
| Operational |
$260,000 |
Rural sealed Maintenance
and Rehabilitation (M&R) |
Rates |
Patching |
| |
$370,000 |
Rural sealed Maintenance
and Rehabilitation (M&R) |
Rates |
Patching |
| |
$457,000 |
Main roads Maintenance
and Improvement Program (M&I) |
Grant |
Patching |
| Total |
$1,087,000 |
|
| |
| Maintenance |
$160,000 |
Financial
Assistance Grant (FAG) rehab urban
sealed |
Grant |
Heavy patch |
| |
$166,000 |
Financial
Assistance Grant rehab rural
sealed (FAG) |
Grant |
Heavy patch |
| |
$210,000 |
Main roads
Maintenance and Improvement Program (M&I) |
Grant |
Heavy patch |
| |
$100,000 |
Rural sealed
construction |
Section 94
contributions |
Heavy patch |
| |
$338,000 |
Urban reseal
program |
Rates |
Resealing |
| |
$326,000 |
Urban reseal
program |
Rates |
Resealing |
| |
$300,000 |
Main roads reseal
program |
Grant |
Resealing |
| Total |
$1,600,000 |
|
| Grant Total |
$2,687,000 |
|
-
Resealing
The purpose of a bitumen seal is to provide a
waterproof, dust free wearing surface over the structural
layers of the road, eg the pavement.
If Council's reseal budget is maintained at the desired
level it will eventually allow the introduction of more
specialised sealing techniques that while more expensive,
will provide an improved result in the longer term.
| Program |
Desired Reseal Cycle |
Network Length
KMS |
Budget Required |
Budget
2007/2008 |
| Urban reseals |
15
years |
208.46 |
$325,584 |
$326,000 |
| Rural reseals |
12
years |
243.42 |
$338,432 |
$338,000 |
| MR reseals |
12
years |
224.57 |
$353,840 |
$300,000 |
-
Pavement rehabilitation
The RTA recommend that approximately three percent (3%) of the network be
rehabilitated annually. Council currently rehabilitates
around 0.5% of the Local road network annually. -
Roadside furniture
Roadside furniture is a general term for anything other than
the road pavement and formation. It includes line marking,
signage, guard rail and chain wire fences as well as
guideposts.
The funding for this is mostly provided by the Traffic
Facilities component of the Regional Road Block Grant.
Unsealed roads
-
Gravel Maintenance is not just grading the unsealed roads.
The operation includes maintenance grading, gravel resheeting, drain maintenance, scrub cutting and installing
guide posts.
The gravel maintenance operation is carried out by four
graders, each grading approximately one quarter of the
shire's road network. Each grader is fitted with a 'Freeroll'
and each grader is accompanied by a water truck. The grader
teams generally carry out the gravel resheeting section 94
and Roads to Recovery projects within their areas.
There is one self-propelled steel drum roller
There is a backhoe tip truck combination.
The boom mower works on the gravel roads removing vegetation
during the winter months.
The teams work 8.5 hours per day over a 9 day fortnight.
The total available budget is therefore a combination of
individual budgets.
| |
Amount |
Budget Source |
Funding Source |
Main Activity |
| Operational |
$1,362,000 |
Rural sealed Maintenance
and Rehabilitation (M&R) |
Rates |
Grading |
| |
$119,000 |
Urban sealed
Maintenance and
Rehabilitation (M&R) |
Rates |
Grading |
| |
$95,000 |
Main roads Maintenance
and Improvement Program (M&I) |
Grant |
Grading |
| Total |
$1,576,000 |
|
| |
| Maintenance |
$200,000 |
Rural sealed
construction |
Section 94
Contributions |
Resheeting |
| |
$230,000 |
Financial
Assistance Grant rehab rural
sealed (FAG) |
Grant |
Resheeting |
| |
$78,000 |
Main Roads Maintenance
and Improvement
Program (M&I) |
Grant |
Resheeting |
| |
$430,000 |
Roads to recovery
program |
Grant |
Resheeting |
| Total |
$938,000 |
|
| Grant Total |
$2,514,000 |
|
-
Gravel Resheeting
The purpose of resheeting on gravel roads is to replace
pavement material that is lost due to traffic abrasion,
climatic conditions (wind and rain) and cover poor natural
surfaces such as clay.
A desirable resheeting cycle is 8 years.
Funds available for resheeting on gravel roads totals
$595,000.
| Program |
Amount
$/year |
% to
resheet |
$ to
resheet |
| Roads to
Recovery |
$430,000 |
75% |
$322,500 |
| FAG Rehab |
$230,000 |
75% |
$172,500 |
Rural Sealed
(Section 94 Contributions) |
$200,000 |
50% |
$100,000 |
| Total |
|
$595,000 |
At this level of
funding the resheeting cycle for the network is 22 years. If
only 'C' class roads are considered the resheeting cycle will be
13 years.
To achieve an 8 year resheeting cycle the required budget would
need to be $986,000 per year.
Currently there is no resheeting done on 'B' class roads, which
is 350km of road or 50% of the road network.
-
Gravel requirements
Council requires approximately 40,000m3 of gravel
per annum for resheeting and new sealing works.
Whilst gravel costs are reasonable at the source the
real cost is in the haulage.
Council currently has access to a number of established pits
that provide gravel for sealing and resheeting works.
Council also has a number of sites where road realignment
works are being carried out and in the process gravel is
being won.
Water requirements
-
The Department of Infrastructure, Planning
and Natural Resources (DIPNR) requires Council to licence
all the locations from which it draws water for road
maintenance and construction purposes. Council has
identified all of its water points, 130 in total, and these
have been provided to DIPNR.
Road Funding
Council sources
-
General Fund - your rates.
-
Loans - money borrowed by Council
for capital works projects.
-
Section 94 Funds - developer
contributions to upgrading of Council roads servicing their
development.
External sources
-
REPAIR - This is a state government
grant of which the objectives are to provide additional
assistance to council to undertake larger works of
rehabilitation, and development on regional roads to
minimise the long term maintenance costs of the road. These
grants are 50% council funded and 50% state government.
-
Roads to Recovery - This is a
federal government grant created due to the deterioration of
rural roads. The purpose of the grant is to restore aging
road infrastructure. These grants are 100% federal
government funded.
-
RTA Block Grant - This is a state
government grant for the maintenance of regional roads. This
is made up of part roads, part traffic facilities and the
old 3x3 grant. These grants are 100% state government
funded.
Footpaths
-
Trip hazards: Funded by Council's
general fund (your rates).
Funds are allocated every year to remove identified trip
hazards in the footpath network. Footpath trip hazards can
be removed by grinding down the footpath surface or
replacing the old footpath with a new section of footpath.
-
Footpath Construction: The footpath
capital works program is funded 50% by adjacent property
owners and 50% by Council and this comes from the general
fund.
Kerb and guttering
Road and street upgrade
strategy
Like the maintenance operation, the
upgrading of rural roads and urban streets is funded by a
number of sources. These are summarised in the following
table.
|
Program |
Source |
Amount
$/year |
Project
description |
Prioritisation
Method |
|
FAG Rural Sealed
Const |
Grant |
$590000 |
2
projects/year–gravel roads will be sealed |
Point Score System |
|
Roads to Recovery |
Grant |
$731051 |
Various projects
$430000 gravel resheeting
$230000 bridge rehab
$70000 sealed road rehab. |
Staff |
|
FAG Rehab Rural
Unsealed |
Grant |
$230000 |
Various gravel
resheeting projects |
Staff |
|
FAG Rehab Rural
Sealed |
Grant |
$166000 |
Various heavy
patching projects |
Staff |
|
FAG Rehab Urban
Sealed |
Grant |
$160000 |
Various heavy
patching projects |
Staff |
|
Rural Sealed
Construction |
Section 94
Developer
contribution |
$300000 |
Various
improvements between development and nearest major
sealed road. Funds spent in area where they are
received. |
Section 94 Plan /
Staff |
|
REPAIR |
Grant / Loan |
$600000 |
Rehabilitation of
sealed Regional Road |
Staff / RTA /
Council |
|
Urban Sealed
Construction |
Loan |
$470000 |
Sealing urban
streets |
Point Score System |
|
Urban Stormwater
Construction |
Loan |
$230000 |
Major urban
drainage projects |
Point Score System
|
|
Kerb & Gutter
Construction |
Council |
$109700 |
New kerb & gutter
construction |
Point Score System
|
|
Footpath
Construction |
Council |
$103500 |
New footpath
construction |
Point Score System
|
|
Urban Reseals |
Council |
$325600 |
Reseal aged
pavement |
Staff |
|
Rural Reseals |
Council |
$338400 |
Reseal aged
pavement |
Staff |
|
MR Block Grant |
Grant |
$1560000 |
Maintenance &
Improvements to Regional Roads |
Staff |
Assets
To enable Council to have a strategic and
manageable method for asset creation, staff have developed a
construction prioritisation system and program for various asset groups, this
is known as the point score system.
The
point score systems are assessment based which require staff to
assess an asset then apply varying criteria and weightings to
determine a point score.
The benefits of implementing the point score
system is that it:
-
delivers a logical, transparent and equitable
system of allocating funds
-
allows for forward planning and time to carry
out investigation and design
-
provides stakeholders with knowledge of when
projects will be constructed.
Point score systems and programs
Reviewed
February, 2008
|
