AAPA Conference

FUTURE OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS

CARLOS RIAL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE AUSTRALIAN ASPHALT PAVEMENT ASSOCIATION, TALKS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE PAVING INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA. A APA is in preparation for its largest event, the 18th International Flexible Pavements Conference and Exhibition, 2019.

This year’s event, held in Sydney, will run over three days from the 18 to 21 of August. The focus on “our everlasting roads – enabling future mobility”.

“‘Our everlasting roads’ is really about sustainable transport infrastructure for Australia, which is going to be here for many years to come,” says Carlos Rial, CEO of the Australian Asphalt Pavements Association (AAPA). “One of the industry’s current opportunities is to support circular economy practices reducing and reusing waste. One of the pressures in Australia at the moment is how do we shift to circular economy thinking and how do we get a better use of materials especially waste material, in our sector? The flexible pavements industry is well placed to meet this challenge,” he says. “Roads in are government’s biggest asset by value, so moving forward we need our roads, our essential infrastructure, to be stronger, last longer and to perform better for the money spent,” Mr. Rial says.

The theme of this year’s conference will be about looking at what technology exists in the sector that can be better utilised, how best practices from overseas can be transferred to Australia, and how consumers can get the best value for money for their road infrastructure.

“The flexible pavements industry is well versed in using crumbed rubber in asphalt and in spray seal. It is also doing it in a way where we can get an improved performance in our road network. In asphalt, we also can incorporate a certain level of glass and this helps to contribute to government waste management policy outcomes,” Mr. Rial says.

The conference will also look to reinforce ideas already introduced in Australia such as the perpetual pavements concept.

“This is an international engineering method where the structural strength of the flexible pavement is such that the loadings applied to it don’t wear down its strength over time. It’s only the wearing course on the top surface that is consumed.” Mr. Rial says.

Using the perpetual pavements concept could mean repairs in the future would only involve the wearing course as opposed to more expensive rehabilitation treatments. Then, Mr. Rial says, the cost over the life of a road becomes cheaper for government when this engineering concept is applied.

“If I was to look across the country at the moment, the maintenance backlog across many states is about four times higher than maintenance funding available, so we need to do business differently,” he says.

When asked about the investment needed to grow specialised skills in perpetual pavements and circular economy, Mr. Rial voiced his concerns with funding uncertainty.

“Funding the boom-and-bust cycles when the government only has yearly funding cycles is hard for industry to manage,” Mr Rial says. “To some degree, the flexible pavements industry can transfer resources across borders year to year, but it’s very difficult to plan, resource and justify the capital infrastructure needed moving forward. It would be better if longer term funding commitments are made to assist the private sector to better plan and support the delivery challenge.”

An example Mr. Rial points to, is the ability to transform the pavement industry to a circular economy. To do this, in some cases, the industry will need to invest in new technology and equipment to support government policy objectives. This is hard when funding is not consistent or committed over longer time periods. It is Mr. Rial’s hope that the Flexible Pavements Conference can bring together both the public and private sectors of the industry to work through challenges and opportunities.

“I think of AAPA like Switzerland, where all parties come together on neutral ground to work through challenges. We are going to talk about appropriate procurement mechanisms, establishing sustainability frameworks, the technical side of the sector, the most appropriate way of introducing international best practice into this country, and transitioning knowledge to not only the private sector, but also to government representatives,” he says.

In preparation for the future, Mr. Rial is aware of some challenges and opportunities the industry could face.

“Currently, we get a small proportion of the fuel excise tax. As we shift towards electric vehicles, obviously the tax income from fuel is going to decrease. Therefore, we are going to have to see a new funding model moving forward.” Mr. Rial says. He also says the industry cannot ignore climate change.

“If you think about all of the natural disasters Australia is starting to see, such as the flash flooding in Queensland and other environmental issues around the country we are going to need our infrastructure to be more resilient,” he says.

He also recognises Australians are moving towards autonomous and “smart” vehicles and this will transform the network.

“As our vehicles get smarter, our roads will need to be better maintained and be in better condition to support a connected transport future. I believe the demand for other transport modes will decrease as a connected or autonomous vehicle fleet increases demand on our roads. This means the government should invest in the condition of our existing road infrastructure to prepare for this future” he says.

He says connected vehicles should allow greater capacity on existing roads, as vehicles will be able to travel safely closer together. “This would delay the need for major upgrades that could be an assistance for some time. We could then see greater loadings on our pavements, so the need to have stronger pavements will increase, which again comes back to our perpetual pavements concept,” he says.