James was the Design Manager during the detailed design phase for the M1/M3/Gateway Merge Upgrade

Increasing traffic capacity and road user safety within the constrained transport corridor were key drivers for the project. As Design Manager, it was James' responsibility to facilitate collaboration between the design team and the contractor to achieve an outcome that optimised the use of the available land.  

To minimise the footprint of new road infrastructure, James led the development of an edge detail that integrated security fencing with the outside concrete barrier.  Prior to construction, the potential risk for the security fence becoming damaged by an errant vehicle and becoming a spearing hazard for trucks and buses was identified. James' technical understanding of Austroads' guidelines enabled him to structure a pragmatic, quantitative risk assessment to justify the detail and mitigate residual risk for the end owner and user.

James highlighted the design actually reduced the number of heavy vehicles travelling past the edge detail by redirecting buses from the motorway and utilise the extended busway.  Considering this, together with crash history, encroachment frequency and relatively low crash costs per year, James demonstrated the proposed edge detail was an appropriate solution to maintain security of the M1 without increased risk to road users and the road authority.

By integrating two roadside elements into one not only reduced the footprint of the new works, but also reduced the materials required to achieve the same outcome.  

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Image courtesy of TMR.