National Asset
Centre of Excellence

VISION: NACOE will be nationally recognised for delivering engineering excellence through leading road asset research that welcomes innovation and private sector participation and drives road management practice efficiency and fit-for-purpose engineering solutions.

The National Asset Centre of Excellence (NACOE) is an initiative of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads and the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB), which is broadening to include partnerships with industry. 

It provides for a stronger commitment to building professional capability and achieving savings in total road expenditure through strategically targeted research. Through a multi-year committed resourced program, NACOE will drive efficiency through a focus on road infrastructure-related research. 

The program has a bias towards using research and testing that adopts international best practice to Australian / Queensland conditions. 

The research program covers four key discipline areas: 

  • Pavements
  • Asset Management
  • Structures
  • Other: Network Operations; Road Safety; Heavy Vehicle Management; Sustainability

The first three years of the program had a focus on achieving ‘quick wins’ by directing research funding to areas with strong prospects of cost savings to the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads infrastructure program. As the NACOE program matures and early research objectives are completed there will be an increased focus on several aspects, including: 

  • Seeking industry partners;
  • Knowledge dissemination;
  • Implementing research findings to realise savings.