The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) says its Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project is on track to hit 1,000 assessments and deliver practical training to support access applications.
The Project (SLGAAP) assists local government road managers in undertaking heavy vehicle assessments of on-road assets, such as bridges and culverts. Working collaboratively with engineering consultants and local government road managers, it aims to support councils to understand their asset capability better and inform heavy-vehicle access decision-making.
“SLGAAP has a well-defined strategic focus. We aim to conduct comprehensive assessments of assets on important local roads and enhance the understanding of asset capability throughout the heavy vehicle network. This approach is based on the belief that prioritising asset assessments on critical heavy vehicle routes can yield numerous benefits for both local government and industry,” the Regulator said in a statement.
To achieve this, it identified 2000+ priority heavy vehicle routes that involve bridge or culvert crossings.
“By doing so, we strategically prioritised ‘routes of significance’ for the national network and selected the most suitable assets for funded engineering assessments, resulting in the best possible outcomes.”
It says asset assessments and inspections on local government assets have ramped up over the past few months, which will see the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project (SLGAAP) team complete close to 1,000 assessments at the conclusion of Phase 2.
Currently, 109 councils nationally have benefited from the assessment and inspection activities.
“Feedback from SLGAAP participants tells us that this information is helping local government make quicker and confident access decisions across a range of vehicle configurations and providing confidence to allow heavy vehicles access on networks, where previously no reliable data was available.”
“To further support local government, we are developing training centred around capabilities relating to bridge capacity and access decision making that will be accessible for all local government through the NHVR in August 2024. In the coming weeks, you will have the opportunity to provide us with your insights and requirements to improve road manager skills from your experience, through a survey that will be available on the SLGAAP project website:Â https://nhvr.engagementhub.com.au/
“The NHVR looks forward to continuing to empower local governments to support heavy vehicle safety and productivity, through a further phase of funding from the Australian Government through to 2026. More information about this phase will be available from July, once the funding arrangements are finalised.”
For more information on the NHVR’s Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project, contact the project team on roadassetproject@nhvr.gov.au or call 13 NHVR (136 487).
