In this Issue

Much has happened in the world since the previous issue of this journal: a pandemic; unprecedented global disruptions to commuting and commerce; and the aftermath thereof. Most of the content of this issue was ‘ready to go’ when we made the decision to hold off on publication until contributors had the time and mental energy to finalise their work. Fortunately, the work is no less relevant today than it was 18 months ago.

It is always our intention to create a publication with a range of topics to a provide something for everyone. This issue covers topics as diverse as recycled rubber and rail vandalism through to value capture and social license.

Brook Hall and Lydia Thomas provide an overview of some work done on value capture and creation on road projects. Sticking to the theme of benefits, Dr Clarissa Han and her co-authors from ARRB and Queensland Department of Main Roads explore the benefits that accrue as a result of investment in major projects.

Dr Amy Killen from Monash University outlines the work that won her an ARRB Research Rising Star award in 2019, about combatting the issue of train vandalism through smart design. Also from Monash University, Professor Jayantha Kodikara gives a brief overview of the Monash-led SPARC Hub, of which ARRB is the major industry partner.

Steve Patrick and his co-authors turn the focus to sustainability issues in infrastructure, describing the set-up and conduct of a major crumb rubber asphalt trial in Victoria. Sticking to the road infrastructure theme, Dr Tim Martin and Lith Choummanivong summarise the outcomes from a 20-year investment in a national long-term pavement performance (LTPP) study.

Paul Hillier and Gavin Lennon provide an exposition on evidence in accident reconstruction and how we can derive maximum benefit from such investigations. In the final paper in this collection, Professor Bill Young and Dr Mike Shackleton provide some food for thought with respect to the notion of social license and road network operation.

Finally, we provide a short technical note on one of the top PhD research projects being conducted in the SPARC Hub, co-supervised by Monash University and ARRB staff on secondment to the Hub.