Types of Maintenance

Drainage

The Metropolitan Region is responsible for directing stormwater runoff from its roads into the existing local councils drainage system. Stormwater drainage structures along our roads free flows stormwater away from the pavement to ensure

• safety of road users
• integrity of the pavement.

Drainage structure maintenance includes

• clearing of all stormwater structures along Transport SA's kerbed roads (including side entry pits and connections from inlets to the main drain) to provide protection from flooding at the roadway or private property
• clearing and repairing damage to open drains that run parallel to unkerbed roads to remove obstructions and promote the free flow of water
• clearing of watercourses beneath bridge structures to remove obstructions and build up of silt which may restrict water flow.

Emergency callouts

The Metropolitan Region is responsible for supplying, through its Maintenance Contractors, an Emergency Callout Service 24 hours a day to respond to incidents that pose an immediate hazard to public safety.

Incidents that create an unsafe condition on our road network include

• storm damage (eg a fallen tree on the road)
• a slippery road surface resulting from a spill
• debris on the road from an accident.

To report road hazards, please call the Traffic Control Centre

• 1800 018 313
• 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Environmental maintenance

Transport SA has a clear Environmental Code of Practice and the Region’s maintenance practices follow both the letter and intent of this.

We are responsible for the management and maintenance of environmental programs such as

• litter collection on specific road corridors eg South Eastern Highway
• revegetation and landscape activities within the Region (not major projects)
• monitoring Council allocations for median maintenance in areas where Council elect to retain this activity
• mowing and amenity issues on some major road corridors, eg
  • Anzac Highway
  • South East Highway
  • Lonsdale Road
• maintenance of the O-Bahn Busway corridor and interchanges (mowing, vegetation control etc)
• investigation and eradication of proclaimed pest plants within Transport SA maintained boundaries.

Caring for the environment

Graffiti removal

This activity includes the identification and removal of any graffiti on Transport SA property that is visible to the public from arterial roads including the placement of posters.

This activity is undertaken to ensure no road user is offended or distracted by graffiti and to maintain the amenity of our road environment.

To report graffiti, please call the Traffic Control Centre

• 1800 018 313
• 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Linemarking

The Metropolitan Region also oversees the routine linemarking program and engages contractors to undertake modifications and / or additions to existing linemarking.

The majority of roads in the Metropolitan Region are linemarked approximately every 18 months. Some roads are treated every 12 months because of traffic volumes or safety concerns etc.

Pavements

Routine maintenance of the pavement or road surface

• maximises the service life of the road structure
• maintains safe conditions for all motorists.

Regular maintenance to established intervention levels includes

• repairing potholes
• digging out and replacing asphalt in areas that have sunk, cause noise or are unsafe to motorists
• shape correction to improve ride-ability and drainage (ensure water runs off the pavement)
• seal cracks in the pavement to avoid water entering the road base and affecting the road structure and surface levels
• pavement sweeping to remove loose debris from the road surface to
  • avoid slippery conditions
  • improve line marking visibility

Roadside amenity

The Metropolitan Region also maintains the aesthetics and serviceability of road user amenities such as

• maintenance of parking bay furniture eg tables, water tanks, monuments, protective fencing and emergency telephones
• repairing median, pedestrian and other special fences
• litter collection including removal of dead animals from the pavement and emptying of litterbins in roadside areas
• mowing and slashing of grassed areas on the shoulders, medians and roadside to provide adequate sight distance to road furniture such as guide posts and signs and provide a neat appearance to the road asset and prevent bushfires
• controlling the growth of vegetation to maintain safe road conditions including the trimming of
  • trees and shrubs and minor lopping in accordance with the Environmental Code of Practice to restore driver sight distance to signs or across horizontal curves in the road alignment
  • low or overhanging branches to maintain legal clearances
• controlling the growth of weeds by hand removal, chemical spraying or hot water. Chemical spraying is undertaken with all necessary precautions and in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act
• weed control along boundary fences for which Transport SA is responsible (eg South Eastern Highway) to prevent infestation to adjoining properties
• maintaining and repairing concrete kerbed islands located on the roadway (including infill material) to
  • provide a safe refuge for pedestrians crossing the road
  • ensure that the traffic islands continue to regulate and guide traffic movements without constituting a safety hazard to road users.

Maintenance responsibility for mowing are those areas

• between guideposts on each side of an unkerbed road
• on the South East Freeway between boundary fences)
• between kerbs on kerbed roads including median strips.

Maintenance beyond these points is the responsibility of the local council.

Roadside furniture

Roadside furniture is the devices used on the road network to direct, warn and protect the road user from hazards.

Regular roadside furniture maintenance ensures the following devices perform as intended both day and night

• delineators such as guideposts, safety bars, raised pavement markers (cats eyes) and guardrail delineators
• W-Beam guardrail and wire safety rope at locations along the roadway where safety is reduced due to the road alignment, or at vehicle merging points or intersections
• regulatory, warning and directional guide signs such as regulation and advisory speed limits, Stop, Give Way and tourist signs.

Shoulders

A road shoulder is the section of road beyond the traffic lanes. Shoulders may be sealed or unsealed depending on the location. Sealed shoulders are treated in the same manner as a sealed pavement.

Shoulders

• protect the sealed roadway from excessive deterioration
• drain the water away from the sealed roadway
• provide for vehicles to pull off the road and out of the way of traffic in an emergency.

Transport SA is responsible for the maintenance of shoulders between the edge of the outside trafficked lane and the guideposts on an unkerbed road. The area outside the guideposts is the responsibility of the local Council.

Shoulder maintenance to established intervention levels includes

• grading unsealed shoulders to repair minor defects including
  • minor scour (erosion due to water movement)
  • rutting (caused by vehicle usage)
  • potholes or edge drop-off
  • maintaining a drainage path for water runoff from the carriageway.
• repairing broken edges of seal or asphalt surfaced pavements to restore the line and level of the original surface
• reconstructing unsealed shoulders where the
  • existing material quality is poor
  • levels are inadequate for drainage
  • number or size of defects are too large to be removed with normal grading operations.

Structure

Structure maintenance involves

• bridge repair and maintenance programs
• maintenance of the O-Bahn Busway tracks and structures
• graffiti removal from bridges and O-Bahn Busway.