PRACTICAL MEASURES WITHIN ROAD RESERVES TO AVOID DEVELOPMENT OF CATCHMENT SALINITY PROBLEMS

Road Design and Asset Management Professionals typically give careful consideration to surface water issues associated with road design and construction. However they are often not as well informed about the nature and influence of groundwater flow processes on roads or of the influence of roads on those flow processes. This can result in road construction initiating or exacerbating land and water salinity issues or shallow water tables. This paper recommends initiatives that pervade into the general specification of road reserve creation and management across Australia. The initiatives comprise succinct planning, design and management specifications or requirements that will reduce the risk that works will encourage the progressive development of shallow water tables and land and water salinisation. Requirements and criteria for design and maintenance are to be included in the AUS-SPEC contract document set. Examples are provided in the paper and industry wide assistance for future action is sought. AUS-SPEC is proposed as one effective medium to communicate widely to the general practising professional without specialist knowledge of salinity problems in catchments. AUS-SPEC is licensed to over 199 Councils in all states and is targeting the achievement of a uniform base set of contract documentation for public works in Local Government across Australia. The initiatives proposed involve amendments to specification sections that deal with stormwater drainage, sub-surface drainage, control of erosion and sedimentation and landscaping.