Engineering assessments support local government decision-making

18-12-2020
Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project (SLGAAP)

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project (SLGAAP) is supporting local governments to get the most out of their existing infrastructure assets.

The Pilot Phase of the SLGAAP concluded in mid-October, with 100 bridges and culverts assessed in 12 local government areas nationally. Engineering reports for the assets provided access information for more than 100 diverse vehicle configurations, including Oversize Overmass, B-Doubles and Road Trains.

This Pilot Phase:

  • confirmed that asset assessments significantly inform heavy vehicle access understanding and assist operators in planning their journeys
  • assisted in validating the importance of a standardised framework to ensure consistent results across the road network
  • established the minimum data requirements to undertake bridge and culvert assessments
  • identified knowledge gaps, supporting the development of additional training materials for road managers (Road Manager Toolkit).

Displaying asset information

The basic asset information from the SLGAAP Pilot is now available on the NHVR Portal – Route Planner. The engineering assessment results will be available from early 2021.

Road managers will have the ability to check the capacity of the bridge or culvert for a specific vehicle configuration, improving heavy vehicle access decision-making.

SLGAAP pilot asset information

NHVR Portal – Route Planner

Round 1 nominations

We have received a great response from councils Australia-wide to the opening of the next round of the project, with 1000 assets nominated by almost 100 council areas. The team is currently in the process of prioritising the assets for assessment by the end of June 2021.

Successful Round 1 assets will receive either a Tier 1/Tier 2 engineering assessment or an Improvement Report, funded under the project.

SLGAAP Round 1 will also review assets nominated from the Council of Mayors (South East Queensland), under a trial of working across a cluster of assets within a region. There will also be several assets, carried forward from the SLGAAP Pilot, that require an Improvement Report.

SLGAAP Round 1 Assessment Activity

For any local governments who did not apply in Round 1 and would like to register interest in possible future rounds of asset assessments, please nominate using the Local Government EOI form.

For more information on the NHVR Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project, visit the project website or contact the project team on roadassetproject@nhvr.gov.au or 13 NHVR (136 487).

Latest News Subject