A Monash University civil and environmental engineering research expert is available to comment on the renewed discussion regarding road conditions following a fatal motorcycle crash in central-western Victoria.
Professor Jayantha Kodikara, Faculty of Engineering
Professor Kodikara is the Director of Monash’s SPARC (Smart Pavements Australia Research Collaboration) Hub. In 2023, the Hub provided written and in-person submissions to Victorian and Federal parliamentary inquiries on road infrastructure resilience.
Contact via: +61 3 9903 4840 or [email protected]
- Impact of climate change on the interaction of soil and atmosphere, and infrastructure
- Shrinkage and deterioration of cemented materials
- Prediction of pavement deterioration due to traffic and environmental loadings
- Pipeline failures
- Geotechnical resilience
The following can be attributed to Professor Kodikara:
“The recent fatal motorcycle crash near Trawalla is a tragic reminder that potholes are not simply a maintenance inconvenience. Once road deterioration reaches this stage, it can become a serious safety issue.
“Potholes should be treated as a symptom, not a disease. If we focus only on filling the hole after it appears, we miss the opportunity to address the pavement design, moisture, construction quality and maintenance conditions that caused it.
“Australia has relied very successfully on thin-sealed unbound pavements for decades, but traffic and climate conditions are changing. We now need to reassess where these pavements remain the best solution and where stronger surfacing and pavement systems will deliver better whole-of-life value.”
“Conventional pavement design focuses on heavy vehicles because truck axle loads dominate structural damage when the pavement is sound. But once severe cracking and potholes have developed, the repeated passage of the much larger number of light vehicles can also accelerate edge breakup and enlargement of the defect.”
For any other topics on which you may be seeking expert comment, contact the Monash University Media Unit on +61 3 9903 4840 or [email protected]
