Skip to main content

Measuring durability of Australia's roads

The Danish Road Directorate has signed a contract with the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland regarding the measurements of more than 16,000km of roads.
April 5, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The Danish Traffic Speed Deflectometer on its way to Australia
The Danish Traffic Speed Deflectometer on its way to Australia

The 2284 Danish Road Directorate has signed a contract with the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland regarding the measurements of more than 16,000km of roads.

The Directorate sees the cooperation as a great step forward for the Danish road research, and as a consequence of the agreement the Danish Traffic Speed Deflectometer has been shipped to Australia to measure the bearing capacity and hence the durability of the roads.

This task has already been successfully undertaken on the Danish road network and "holds a promise of saving a lot of money on road maintenance."

The Danish Road director, Per Jacobsen said:

"This agreement is a giant boost for the Road Directorate as it demonstrates our ability to act in the global market for road research and technology.

"And the job is also to the benefit of the Danish road sector, as we are constantly striving to perform the best possible measuring to enable the right prioritising of road maintenance.

The assignment can help us with this by providing important data and further more we will be able to use the equipment while it is winter time in Denmark."

The Traffic Speed Deflectometer moves at traffic speed as opposed to earlier versions (falling-weight deflectometer) that required blocking the road and disturbing road users. It was developed in cooperation with 2283 Greenwood Engineering and with support from the 2282 Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs.

The assignment is due to finish in late 2010.

Related Content

  • Measuring durability of Australia's roads
    February 6, 2012
    The Danish Road Directorate has signed a contract with the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland regarding the measurements of more than 16,000km of roads.
  • The Danish Road Directorate is testing climate-friendly asphalt
    June 4, 2018
    Over the next few weeks, Denmark is hosting a world-premiere in the field of green infrastructure. A busy section of the motorway exiting the greater area of Copenhagen northbound towards Elsinore has been chosen is being used for the trials. This is the first of several roads on the Danish state road network to receive a special climate-friendly asphalt, as part of the development of pavements that reduce emissions from road traffic. This type of asphalt has been developed over the last decade and is the
  • New tests, new technology, new users: why materials testing is a growing market
    February 7, 2017
    A look back at some of the developments this year, and a look ahead to what may come next reveals the increasing use of materials testing. New technology and new ways to process and analyse data will drive change even further - Kristina Smith reports For materials testing equipment manufacturers, constant change is business as usual. New tests emerge, new standards are written and new practices spread around regions and the world. There are also new materials to deal with: bitumen modified with polymers
  • Australia bites the bullet on roads reform
    August 2, 2012
    Predictions of impending doom for Australia's roads infrastructure have given the nation's governments and roads stakeholders the fright they needed to collaborate on roads policy. If the latest initiatives Australia is putting in place do produce the full extent of the roads reform required, there will be some lessons there for the whole world Whether through pride or stubbornness, or a combination of both, each state and territory of Australia has always liked to do things its own way. To some extent and