- About us
- Careers
- Career Opportunities
- Executive Employment Opportunities
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Entry Level Pathways
- DPTI Capability Framework
- News
- Annual report
- TaxiHireCarReview
- Open Government
- Social Media
- Government Employee Housing
- Office Accommodation Services
- Property Division
- Building Projects
- Traffic Volumes
- Cycling
- Keeping Metro Traffic Moving
- Regional aviation funding
- Forecast Transport Data
- COVID-19 Industry Information
- Getting your head around roundabouts
- Remote Areas Consultative Group (RACG)
- A simpler way to navigate
- Keeping the point-to-point community COVID SAfe
- COVID-19 Response
Connect - 29 October 2021
Message from the Chief Executive
View transcript
G'day.
One of the questions that gets asked quite frequently nowadays is why is it that when the roadworks have been finished, the speed limit is still reduced.
A good example of that is right here behind me on the South Eastern Freeway, where we've just finished putting down the asphalt and done the line marking - but still speed restrictions.
Well, the answer is that the best sort of materials to use for road surfaces just take a little bit of time to wear in. The compounds that we choose today to apply are the longer wearing compounds that are less prone to rutting and cracking and they reduce noise and minimise the amount of spray you get during wet weather.
After the road is open to traffic, our team use specialised equipment to monitor the skid resistance of the surface, and when it reaches the standard they can restore the speed limits to the original settings.
Now this can take anywhere between three and six weeks typically but it's very variable because it depends on certain things like the amount of traffic on the road and the weather conditions and also the final speed limit because when it's a high-speed road it takes longer for the road surface to cure.
And that's the answer to the question that you're probably going to be asked sometime over Christmas or the next time you're socialising.
And hopefully we can help our customers to understand there's a really good reason that we do this ... and it's to keep them safe.
Joy Baluch AM Bridge milestone
Concrete pours for the deck of the Joy Baluch AM Bridge were completed last week, with the next step being asphalt installation to form the road surface. This means the project is firmly on track for its planned completion in mid-2022, which is a credit to the Port Wakefield to Port Augusta Alliance.
The Joy Baluch AM Bridge is a vital link in the National Land Transport Network, providing access across the Spencer Gulf for commuter, commercial and freight vehicles in the north of our state and linking the country east to west.
Mt Lofty road safety upgrade
While small in scale, road upgrades such as this at Mount Lofty, depicted by the before and after photos go a long way to making roads safer for our community.
Such tasks are managed by project teams within Transport Project Delivery across our regions, ranging from shoulder sealing and installation of safety barriers to resurfacing and patch repairs.
The Mount Lofty project demonstrates what can be achieved in constrained areas while ensuring the final result does not detract from the location.
Click or tap and drag the slider to the left or right to view before (left) and after (right) images.
Dave Holtham marks 50 Years
Congratulations to Dave Holtham, who has reached a remarkable milestone of 50 years with the department. Commencing with the Highways Department in 1971, Dave has been working on our Outback roads north of Port Augusta ever since.
Dave is no doubt the keeper of many great memories and stories of adventure with a rich cast of characters. Congratulations on a job that continues to be well done.
Mick Lorenz and Dave Holtham.
Grateful truckers
I was pleased to receive some very positive feedback via the Minister for Infrastructure’s office about floodway repair on Mannum Road at Tepko, after 21mm of rain fell in four hours on the evening of Wednesday 29 September.
Managed by our Road and Marine Minor Projects group, contractors had the road reopened two weeks later, which prompted D&S Smith Haulage to email the Minister, “When I received a phone call from DIT yesterday stating that this road would be open by 1700 I wasn’t sure if it was a hoax or not”. The email went on to say that the closure had required a 500km detour for livestock carriers from the South East to access Thomas Foods International at Lobethal, “… so these carriers are extremely grateful for this speedy resolve”.
T2D gets social
The T2D project team launched communication across all social media channels last weekend. We are now operating accounts onFacebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, giving us enormous potential reach.
Effective communication is important to the success of all projects and, given the scale and impact of T2D, the ability of social media to provide information and enable feedback is vital. A large and engaged social media audience can influence the broader media and community sentiment.
These social media channels will be used for a broad range of content over the life of the project, including concept animations, milestones and community events.
Friday Flashback
Today’s Friday Flashback shows roadworks from a long bygone era. This shot is on the southern side of Waymouth Street in 1922, where roadworks were in progress.
SLSA B 1165
If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or concerns, please email them to telltony@sa.gov.au.