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Glossary

Word Definition
Bitumen A viscous liquid or solid impure mixture, consisting essentially of hydrocarbons and their derivatives, used for road surfacing. It has waterproofing and adhesive qualities.
Bypass An alternative route that enables through-traffic to avoid urban areas.
Carriageway The portion of a road or bridge devoted particularly to the use of vehicles, inclusive of shoulders and auxiliary lanes.
Channelisation A system of controlling traffic by the introduction of an island or islands or markings on a carriageway to direct traffic into predetermined paths, usually at an intersection or junction.
Community Engagement Involving communities in the prioritisation and development of services in their own area. Community Engagement includes Community Consultation, but also goes beyond this, to include the more active processes in which communities play a greater role in actually formulating plans or influencing local developments.
Corporate Governance The way Main Roads balances compliance against risk-taking as it directs, controls and is held accountable for its business performance.
Culvert One or more adjacent pipes or enclosed channels for conveying a stream below formation level and carrying water under a roadway.
Drainage The removal of water by flow from the ground or from its surface.
Floodway A longitudinal section or road designed at, or just above, ground level specially constructed to allow the passage of floodwater across it without damage.
Freeway A divided highway for through-traffic with no access for traffic between interchanges and with grade separation at all intersections.
Highway Highways provide connection between capital cities. They are also principal routes between a city and the major producing regions of the State. Highways also service major transport terminals or significant commercial and industrial centres.
IAP2 The International Association for Public Participation - a non-profit organisation established to advance the practice of public participation world wide.
Individual Development Plan Supports the ongoing learning and development of employees and provides a framework for performance management.
Incidence rate The number of LTI/Ds divided by the number of employees * 100.
Main Road A principal road in the road system.
Maintenance The work carried out on an existing road and infrastructure to maintain its efficiency or quality.
Median A strip of road that separates carriageways for traffic in opposite directions.
Overlay The addition of one or more courses of pavement material to an existing road surface, generally to increase strength, and/or to improve ride quality.
Overtaking/Passing Lane An auxiliary lane provided for slower vehicles to allow them to be overtaken.
Pavement That portion of a carriageway placed above the levelled surface or earth or rock for the support of, and to form a running surface for, vehicular traffic.
Performance Indicator A simple measure that allows objective comparisons to be made. An example is road maintenance costs per kilometre in a region. This can then be compared to other regions and monitored over time.
Realignment A change in the geometric form of the original centre-line of a carriageway with respect to the vertical and horizontal axes.
Reconstruction Rebuilding of a road. Reconstruction is normally undertaken when a pavement has reached the end of its economic life and where the alignment, or formation height, or width is substandard.
Seal A thin surface layer of sprayed bitumen.
Stakeholder A person or group of people with a direct interest, involvement, or investment in something.
Strategy This is how a broad objective will be approached. An example is Main Roads' contracting strategy. It specifies the mix of contract types that will deliver the best outcome for the community.
Severity Rate The number of LTI/Ds that resulted in 60 days or more lost, divided by the total number of LTI/Ds *100.
Sustainability The long-term balance of social, environmental and economic factors into an organisation's activities, decision-making and investment processes.
Term Network Contract A contract to deliver a set of given services for a defined period.