Sustainability Conference-ShoulderMaster Submission 2016

An Innovative Australian Design Paving The Way For

Reduced Road Fatalities and Sustainable Road Management

Mark Pilgrim - Stabilcorp

OF FATAL CRASHES IN AUSTRALIA

OCCUR ON RURAL ROADS

PEOPLE KILLED ANNUALLY IN

RURAL AREAS

In the year 2000, the per capita risk of dying or being hospitalised in a rural environment compared with an urban crash was 4 times.

TIMES HIGHER

The most frequent casualty crash

type on rural roads is run off

road crashes, equating to 60%.

Characteristics of Rural Casualty Crashes

There are many factors associated with rural road crashes

They are;

lower quality road conditions (e.g. less shoulder width, unsealed surface)

the interaction of this environment with the driver and negotiating curves

inappropriate speed for the conditions.

Shoulder Width

Adding an additional 1-2m wide

gravelled surface is associated with up

to a 50% reduction in run off road

casualty crashes.

This percentage reduction converts

into the potential for approximately

5000 less run off road cashes per year.

Road Shoulder Widening

Black Spot Funding

Narrow shoulders or no road shoulders are a common feature of the Australian

rural road environment.

The Australian Government Black Spot programme targets those road

locations where crashes are occurring.

The criteria to be considered for Black Spot funding requires that two

casualty crashes occur over five years or 0.13 casualty crashes per km over 5

yrs.

In the 2015/2016 year $16 million was allocated to include shoulder widening

and realignment as part of the project.

The Black Spot programme has found that fatal and casualty crashes are

reduced at treated sites by 30%, equalling 1 life saved per 84 project.

The ShoulderMaster

A universal skid steer attachment

designed for rehabilitating and widening

the shoulders of roads up.

The ShoulderMaster concept was

developed by Stabilcorp Pty Ltd who are

a road maintenance contracting company

on the Mid North Coast of NSW.

Stabilcorp’s core business is repairing

and maintaining Local Government rural

and regional roads in NSW.

The ShoulderMaster has been developed

to address damaged and dangerous road

shoulders, and repair them efficiently

and cost effectively.

2014

Stabilcorp staff commenced the design

process of the ShoulderMaster

January 2015

Manufacturing of prototype commenced

at Wauchope, NSW

Early May 2015

Prototype complete after 2000 hours of

design and fabrication

Mid May 2015

Prototype exhibited at IPWEA’s Civinex,

Eastern Creek NSW

June 2015

Trialed successfully at various Council sites

July/August 2015

Commenced commercial production

November 2015

First commercial unit available for sale

ShoulderMaster Operations

The ShoulderMaster can widen road

shoulders from 0.5m to 1.5M and can

incorporate grades of up to 5%.

A large hopper delivers the granular or

asphaltic material via a conveyor to the

shoulder area.

The ShoulderMaster's main operations are

remote controlled.

On a 1m wide shoulder widening at

150mm deep ShoulderMaster can

deliver 400m per hour of road

shoulder material.

Cost Savings Analysis

An independent report was undertaken in 2015 in regards to the savings the ShoulderMaster can deliver versus traditional methods of shoulder repair.

In traditional operations that adopt the use of a grader to remove shoulder material and spread new material, the new gravel material is tipped onto the roadway and graded into the excavated area. This method can result in damaged road pavement and does not give a consistent pavement depth to be then compacted.

Initially the most notable benefit of the ShoulderMaster process is the limited time that the road is required to be restricted to traffic and the overall safety of the process. According to the author, the minimum time taken by Council to undertake any shoulder work on a 300m section of road is three (3) days whereas the ShoulderMaster process takes only one (1) day for the same section.

Furthermore, the skid steer mounted ShoulderMaster system is operated by remote control with one man controlling the cross fall of material placement, layer thickness, shoulder width and delivery speed of the material.

Even if some of the material can be re-used for subbase pavement (say 50% is deemed suitable), this still requires work on additional road width that was not required. The ShoulderMaster process can undertake shoulder strengthening works from a minimum width of 0.5m to 1.5m thus saving valuable pavement material and limiting the occupation of the travel lane of the road.

The excavation of the shoulder using the ShoulderMaster system is undertaken through profiling of a trench which is a rapid process that limits the contamination of common material into the gravel shoulder and leaves the subbase of the trench relatively undisturbed. This means that profiling spoil can be re-used in other minor road re-sheeting works, for select fill and if of a high enough standard can be used for subbase.

Further, the subgrade needs only to be proof rolled to ensure that no soft spots are present. The normal Council operation of rip and remove is slower and leaves a trench, which is not of constant width, is not accurately controlled for depth and leaves a loose and uneven subgrade. This results in an uneven bitumen edge which must be trimmed and a loose and uneven subgrade which must be trimmed and compacted.

Table 1 shows a selection of different shoulder widening options using either a grader or a skid steer loader for various shoulder reconstruction widths and compares the cost of the traditional method with the ShoulderMaster process. It is evident from Table 1 below that the ShoulderMaster process demonstrates that significant savings can be achieved over the current Council processes and in all cases results in over a 50% reduction in cost. All options shown in the table below would require only one (1) day for completion prior to holding for sealing if the ShoulderMaster process is used.

In April 2016 the ShoulderMaster was utilised to lay 1400m of shoulder at Forbes in 2 days, which traditionally would have taken up to 5 days to undertake the same works.

Cost Savings Analysis

Option No Description of work

Traditional

method

($A/m2)

ShoulderMaster

method ($A/m2)

Saving

($A/m2)

% Cost

saving

1a Grader widening of shoulder 1.0m wide no pavement re-use $241.46 $78 $163.46 67.7

1b Grader widening of shoulder 1.0m wide with pavement re-use $200.90 $72 $128.9 64.2

2a Grader widening of shoulder 1.5m wide no pavement re-use $160.97 $62 $98.97 61.5

2b Grader widening of shoulder 1.5m wide with pavement re-use $133.93 $53 $80.93 60.4

3a Excavator widening of shoulder 0.5m wide no pavement re-use $344.10 $150 $194.24 56.4

3b Excavator widening of shoulder 0.5m wide with pavement re-use $330.75 $138 $192.89 58.3





Energy Savings Analysis

Increased efficiency and cost savings result in an energy saving of over 70%.

This can be quantified by comparing the plant used in both the traditional

processes and ShoulderMaster processes.

For a comparable unit rate for the work option 5a was used for comparison.

5a = Excavator widening of shoulder 1.5m wide no pavement re-use

The traditional method uses 2024ltrs of fuel versus 540ltrs of fuel by the

ShoulderMaster to undertake the same works.

This results the ShoulderMaster method using approximately 26% of the fuel

that the traditional method uses.

Energy Savings Analysis

Plant Item Fuel use (litres/hr)Council process

Machine days

ShoulderMaster

Machine days

Council fuel

consumption (litres)

ShoulderMaster fuel

consumption

(litres)

Excavator 25 3.5 - 700 0

Tandem tip trucks 9 3.5 2 252 144

Skid steer loader 20 4 1 640 160

Roller 10 3 1 240 80

Wirtgen profiler 25 - 0.5 0 100

Water truck 8 3 1 192 64

Total fuel consumption 2024 548

Energy saving = 1 – ShoulderMaster fuel consumption = (1 – (548/2024)) x 100 = 72.9% energy saving

Council process fuel consumption

Case Study 1: Nelson Bay Road

Client : RMS and Port Stephens Council

The Problem

• The client required widening of 1400m

of the eastbound carriageway of

Nelson Bay Road by 2m.

• This road regularly experiences heavy

volumes of traffic and needed to

remain open for the duration of the

works.

• Traditional methods of widening would

have taken at least 5–6 days.



The Solution

• The trench was excavated out at 2m

wide by 300mm deep and was filled

with asphalt profiling’s using the

ShoulderMaster.



The Result

• The works were completed in 3 days

laying a total of 1400m at 2m wide and

a depth of 300mm.

• Traditional Method = $25/m2

• ShoulderMaster Method = $15/m2

Case Study 2: Pacific Highway Upgrade

Client: McConnell Dowell/OHL JV

The Problem

• The client needed to place verge

material along the Kempsey to

Kundabung section of the Pacific

Highway Upgrade.

• The works consisted of placing verge

material in 2 layers at 225mm deep by

2.5m wide.



The Solution

• The ShoulderMaster’s screed extended

out 1.5m and was followed by a second

skid steer with a grader blade

attachment to spread the material a

further 1m in width.

• This process was repeated twice to

achieve the correct depth.



The Result

• The ShoulderMaster was laying on

average 12 tonne of 40mm granular

material in 4.5 minutes.

• On average the ShoulderMaster was

placing in excess of 800 tonnes of

verge material every day.

Stabilcorp’s ShoulderMaster method of shoulder widening and repair, has demonstrated

over the past 12 months working with Local Government, State Road Authorities and

Tier One Contractors that the use of the ShoulderMaster method of shoulder repair is

up to 50-60% more cost effective than traditional methods of shoulder widening and

repair.

If road authorities had $100,000 budgeted for shoulder widening, at 1m wide and

250mm-300mm deep, approximately 1400 lineal metres of road can be repaired and

widened using the ShoulderMaster compared with approximately 500 lineal metres if

the repair was undertaken with the traditional method.

Some options of traditional shoulder repair can take up to 3 days to complete versus

just the 1 day using the ShoulderMaster method of shoulder repair.

Conclusion

The reduced use of construction plant, labour and equipment and reduced time to

undertake works has resulted in increased efficiency and cost savings due to the

reduction in the consumption of fossil fuel, with an energy saving of over 70%

Provision of unsealed shoulders defined as a 1-2m wide gravelled surface, was

associated with up to a 50% reduction in run off road casualty crashes. This percentage

reduction converts into the potential for approximately 5,000 less run off road casualty

crashes per year.

Local Government has an opportunity to apply for funding for shoulder widening

projects under the Federal Governments Black Spot program. The program has reduced

fatal and casualty crashes by 30% in some instances, which equals one life per year for

every 84 projects.

Widening narrow shoulders with the ShoulderMaster method is indeed a proven way of

reducing the probability of run off crashes and reducing the ever increasing road toll.

References

1. Austroads, 2015, “Road Geometry Study for improved Rural Safety”, AP-T295-15, Austroads, Sydney, NSW.

2. Stephen P McElroy, 2015, “Independent Review of ShoulderMaster SM1500 Process and Conventional Council Shoulder Widening and Sealing Process”

3. Austroads, 2005, “Road Safety in Rural and Remote Areas of Australia”, AP-R273-05, Austroads, Sydney, NSW.

4. Austroads, 2014a, “Improving roadside safety: summary report”, AP-R437-14, Austroads, Sydney, NSW.

5. Austroads, 2010, “Infrastructure/speed limit relationship in relation to road safety outcomes”, AP-T141-10, Austroads, Sydney, NSW.

6. Austroads, 2014b, Model national guidelines for setting speed limits at high-risk locations”, AP-R455-14, Austroads, Sydney, NSW.

7. Hon. John Cobb MP, 2015, “$53.5 Million to fix local Black Spots in NSW”, Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Media Release, http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/jb/release/2015/April/jb030_2015.aspx

Government & Nonprofit

Sustainability Conference-ShoulderMaster Submission 2016