Update from Transport Canberra & City Services

Dear Valued Industry Partners,

Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) would like to introduce Jonathon Dragos as the Director of the Technical Services Unit within the City Operations Group of TCCS. In January 2023, Jonathon commenced the role of custodian of the TCCS Standards and Specifications. In addition to updating the Standards and Specifications, Jonathon is also involved in the review of major projects, including the assessment of complex departures from Standards and Specifications, the review and approval of new innovative products, and the release of Advisory Notes to industry.

The purpose of this email is to provide an update on the work that has recently been undertaken and is planned for the near future.

Recently Completed Updates

A number of Advisory Notes to industry have recently been developed by TCCS and are outlined below:

• Engineering Advisory Note 17: Traffic Control Device (TCD) – Linemarkings/new line types
• Engineering Advisory Note 19: Use of plastic stormwater pipes under road pavement
• Engineering Advisory Note 20: Provision of power supply from the streetlight network
• Landscape Advisory Note 03: Lockable assets on unleased land
• General Advisory Note 07: Pre-lodgement Development Application (DA) advice and DA comments clarification and endorsement
• General Advisory Note 08: Operational Acceptance and Final Acceptance requirements for infill developments
• General Advisory Note 09: Landscape Management and Protection Plans (LMPP) – Standard notes

The above Advisory Notes can be downloaded from the following webpage: https://www.cityservices.act.gov.au/plan-and-build/standards-codes-and-guidelines

In addition to this, an assessment has been undertaken internally to identify the highest priorities for updates to TCCS Standards and Specifications. The priorities have been determined predominantly based on the following key principles:

• Minimising whole of life costs to the ACT Government.
• Supporting ACT Government’s policy objectives (sustainable materials, circular economy, increased tree canopy coverage, etc).

Current priorities – Standards and Specifications

Outlined below are the current priorities for updates to TCCS Standards and Specifications:

1. Review of Standards and Specifications for flexible pavements

   TCCS has identified some pavements which do not appear to be performing as expected and are exhibiting premature failure. Such pavements are primarily for collector roads in new subdivisions which are bus routes and constructed 5-12 years ago.

   TCCS has undertaken an in-house assessment, and a peer review by a pavement subject matter expert is underway to update the Municipal Infrastructure Standards (MIS) and Municipal Infrastructure Technical Specifications (MITS) for collector roads to prevent premature failures from occurring on future constructed collector roads. An Engineering Advisory Note is expected to be released in the second half of 2023 and an industry briefing will be provided to capture any comments prior to finalising amendments.

   In addition, TCCS will consider future review of other aspects of the pavement Standards and Specifications.

2. Recycled content in pavements

   Whilst the ACT Government is adopting asphalt and other pavement materials containing recycled content, such materials are being adopted on a project-by-project basis. New products and materials are emerging, and TCCS Standards and Specifications will be updated to align with Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and give clear guidance to the industry around limits and requirements for the use of pavement materials containing recycled content. In the longer term, TCCS plans to undertake monitoring and assessment of constructed pavements containing recycled content to gain an understanding of the performance from a durability perspective.

3. Sustainable materials for concrete assets

   The ACT Government is adopting the use of macro synthetic fibres (including fibres made from recycled plastic) as a substitute for steel reinforcement in concrete paths as part of a controlled rollout. This is being supported by an interim set of minimum requirements which have been developed. TCCS is planning to update the Standards and Specifications to formally allow the use of macro synthetic fibres, and potentially other materials, as a substitute for steel reinforcement in concrete paths, medians and driveways.

   In addition, the ACT Government is planning to amend the Standards and Specifications to provide clearer guidance to industry on the use of low carbon concrete. This will be implemented in such a way to align with other jurisdictions.

4. Technical Specifications for trunk road infrastructure projects

   TCCS has received feedback that it is not clear which specifications to adopt for trunk road infrastructure projects in ACT. The MITS was predominantly intended to be adopted on municipal infrastructure projects, not trunk road infrastructure projects. The Trunk Road Infrastructure Technical Specifications (TRITS) is based on a superseded set of the TfNSW Specifications. The aim of this work will be to give clearer guidance to industry on the optimal set of specifications to be adopted on trunk road infrastructure projects. However, in the interim please contact tccs.roadstandards@act.gov.au regarding the use of technical specifications for trunk road infrastructure projects.

5. Cooler Greener Infrastructure – Review of MIS

   The Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) is undertaking a study which involves a focused review of the MIS and will seek to propose recommendations to amend the Standards to better enable the following objectives to be achieved:

• Green infrastructure and the ACT Government’s 30% tree canopy cover target
• The ACT Government’s 30% permeable surfaces target
• Reduction of urban heat.

TCCS will then seek to implement the agreed recommendations by amending the MIS.

Other updates

TCCS is planning a number of other updates to Standards, Specifications, TCCS Reference Documents and guidance documents, including the following:

• TCCS Reference Document 04 for Landscape Management and Protection Plans will be updated to align with the Urban Forest Strategy.
• TCCS Reference Documents 08 and 11 will be updated to enable transition to the use of the Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020) for all surveying, mapping and spatial data. The update will be communicated to industry via an Engineering Advisory Note, with updates to the TCCS Reference Documents to follow. In addition to the GDA2020 updates, these documents will also be progressively updated to ensure alignment with all TCCS Standards and Specifications, TCCS information systems and to support future ACT Government adoption of emerging technologies (e.g. 3D and Building Information Modelling (BIM)).
• Updates to requirements for access easements to stormwater structures within private blocks.
• Updates to Municipal Design Standard Drawings for large special chambered manhole structures.
• Clarification on the use of Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 6: Roadside Design, Safety and Barriers published in 2022.
• TCCS Reference Document 08 will be updated to clarify quality construction record requirements for soft landscape elements to align with MIS/MITS.

A number of other updates are planned for the future. The industry will be notified of such updates in due course.

Additional updates to the Standards and Specifications are being progressed which include:

• MIS and MITS will be updated to reflect the new ACT Government brand.
• MIS, MITS and Municipal Design Standard Drawings will be updated to be accessible to people with disability.

Industry database

You are receiving this correspondence because your details are included on our industry database. Should you no longer wish to receive these communications or wish to include additional representatives onto the database, please reply to TCCS.DCDevelopmentCoordination@act.gov.au.

TCCS Standards inbox

The TCCS Standards inbox is being monitored on a regular basis. Please send through any queries, commentary or recommendations on the TCCS Standards and Specifications to: tccs.roadstandards@act.gov.au.

Upcoming survey

TCCS seeks to foster open and transparent communication channels between the development industry and government representatives. To inform our prioritisation and better understand the opportunities to improve our service levels, we will shortly be releasing a customer satisfaction survey seeking responses from contacts registered on our industry database. We encourage you to take the time to complete this survey and thank you in advance for your feedback.

Yours sincerely,

Geoffrey Davidson

Executive Branch Manager

Development Coordination Branch