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Purpose The achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) for all communities and jurisdictions require a comprehensive roadmap that encompasses all dimensions of data infrastructure, social, economic, environmental and governance ecosystems. With this in mind, this paper aims to establish the link between the curriculum and intended learning outcomes of undergraduate and postgraduate subjects offered by the University and sustainability. This study is a part of a wider university strategy to embed sustainability knowledge and values in the university curricula. The 17 SDGs developed as a part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainability Development was used as tool to measure and map how the subjects are linked with sustainability. Design/methodology/approach To incorporate sustainability into the curriculum, this paper developed an interdisciplinary approach for analysing the interconnection between the SDGs, the expected subject learning points and the relevant aspects of sustainability (geospatial information, the legal, policies and institutional components). As part of the approach, in the first phase of the study, qualitative data were collected through a review of published information on the SDGs and the content of the subjects available in the subject handbook. Subject codes were assigned to the keywords and key phrases extracted from the SDGs and the subject content, and then compared and matched to establish the link between the subjects and the SDGs. Six university schools offering over 2,157 subjects were investigated. In the second phase, a survey was conducted involving subject coordinators with the purpose of validating the findings of the first phase and determining the strength of the linkages between the subjects and the SDGs. In the third phase, a plugin was designed to be used in the digital twin platform developed in the UoM, allowing visualisation of the research outcomes. Findings Based on the interim findings, it was found that some subjects within the schools are linked to more than one SDG. However, not all of the subjects within the schools can be linked to the SDGs. There is a scope of improvement for embedding sustainability in more subjects within the schools. Some of the schools were also found to have weak linkages with sustainability, which demonstrate the challenge in technical subjects in linking their subject contents with sustainability. Originality/value This study provides a methodology which enables the integration of sustainability into current state of the curricula at the university to be established. Further, with the advancement of geospatial technology and new visualisation opportunities through the use of the digital twin platform provides capabilities to communicate the outcomes of sustainability and involvement of each faculties and departments more effectively to the university community and wider stakeholders.

PurposeThis study aims to develop a hierarchical reliability framework to evaluate the service delivery performance of education public–private partnerships (PPPs) effectively and efficiently during long-term operations.Design/methodology/approachThe research design included development and test phases. In the development phase, three performance layers, i.e. indicator, component and system, in the education service delivery system were identified. Then, service component reliability was computed through first order reliability method (FORM). Finally, the reliability of the service system was obtained using dynamic component weightings. A PPP school example in Australia was set up in the test phase, where performance indicators were collected from relevant contract documents and performance data were simulated under three assumptive scenarios.FindingsThe example in the test phase yielded good results for the developed framework in evaluating uncertainties of service delivery performance for education PPPs. Potentially underperforming services from the component to the system level at dynamic timepoints were identified, and effective preventative maintenance strategies were developed.Research limitations/implicationsThis research enriches reliability theory and performance evaluation research on education PPPs. First, a series of performance evaluation indicators are constructed for assessing the performance of the service delivery of the education PPP operations. Then, a reliability-based framework for service components and system is developed to predict service performance of the PPP school operations with consideration of a range of uncertainties during project delivery.Practical implicationsThe developed framework was illustrated with a real-world case study. It demonstrates that the developed reliability-based framework could potentially provide the practitioners of the public sector with a basis for developing effective preventative maintenance strategies with the aim of prolonging the service life of the PPP schools.Originality/valueEvaluating education PPPs is challenging as it involves long-term measurement of various service components under uncertainty. The developed reliability-based framework is a valuable tool to ensure that reliability is maintained throughout the service life of education PPPs in the presence of uncertainty.

Many bridges built during the colonial times in Australia have timber girders as load transferring elements and they are still in service with increased traffic loads and consistent deterioration. Most of the timber girders in those bridges are notched at the ends for better seating arrangement. Therefore, it is necessary to quantify the strength characteristics of notched girders in order to ensure structural safety and make necessary intervention to extend their service lives. Hence experimental tests were conducted on the notched rectangular timber girder samples with three different notch depths (i.e.10%, 15% and 30% of the depth of beam) having the notched angle of 1:4. Consequently, detailed finite element models were developed for notched timber girders, and the models were validated with experimental results. The validated model was used to predict the shear and flexural strengths and stiffnesses of typical circular and rectangular timber girders with two different spans (i.e. 6 m and 9 m), three different notch angles (i.e. 1: 0, 1:2 and 1:4) and three depths (i.e.15%, 30% and 45% o of the depth of beam). Strength data developed for notched timber were used to compare the applicability of the design provisions in various timber design standards. Experimental and finite element model test results show that when the notch depth increased from 15% to 45%, the load carrying capacity of rectangular timber girder was reduced by 50%. Whilst, the reduction of the load carrying capacity of the corresponding circular timber girder was slightly low (i.e. 37%). Further, when the notched angle changes from 1:0 to 1:4, the load carrying capacity of circular and rectangular girders increased about 50%, 69% and 110% for the notch depths 15%, 30% and 45%, respectively.

Roads are among the most important assets in the world. Road structure improvements make a crucial contribution to economic development and growth and bring important social benefits. Automation in structural health monitoring allow the accurate prediction of ongoing damage caused by long-term traffic loading. This permits optimal road structure management and ensures the longevity and safety of road structures. This chapter discusses a variety of advanced automation techniques in structural health monitoring of road structures, such as data acquisition, data processing, and life-cycle assessment. It demonstrates that the implementation of automation in road asset management can increase the productivity and extend the service life of road structures, and enhance the durability of crucial road structures and increase transport infrastructure sustainability.

Cross disciplinary team learning enhances the team building and collaborative learning process. Engineering capstone subject provides students with different engineering disciplines to work on a live project. This serves them a great learning experience on collaborative learning and team working. Co-created projects provide students to engage in the project during the planning and construction phases. The new student precinct which is a co-created project, was introduced to the students to work on project management capstone subject at the University of Melbourne. This study presents some findings on teaching and learning outcomes of a co-created projects in engineering management. Students develop great team working and project management skills working in this project and they showed higher engagement in the project as they are considered as one of the main key stake holders in the project.

This research paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the axial compressive behaviour of 24 geopolymer concrete-filled glass fibre-reinforced polymer tubes. The test variables considered are the compressive strength of geopolymer concrete (30 MPa and 35 MPa) and the shape of the cross section (square, circular and rectangular). All the glass fibre-reinforced polymer tubes had the same amount of fibres and similar fibre orientation together with the same aspect ratio. The failure of the square and rectangular columns initiated with the splitting of the corners and resulted in a lower load-carrying capacity compared to the circular columns whose failure was initiated by the crushing of glass fibre-reinforced polymer tube followed by the separation of glass fibre-reinforced polymer tube into strips. It can be concluded that axial load-carrying capacity of square and rectangular sections can be improved by a concrete filler with higher compressive strength. Adopted finite element analysis to simulate the behaviour of the columns is capable of predicting the stress–strain behaviour and the mode of failure.

Due to the soft soil condition, it has been found that buildings in Bangkok locating 200 km away from epicentral of an earthquake can be damaged as a result of high ground motion (e.g. earthquakes of magnitudes 5.3–5.9 in 1983). Because of rapid urban expansion and population growth in cities with soft soil condition, such as Bangkok, the assessment of seismic vulnerability of building structures becomes necessary. The purpose of this study is to quantify variability and develop attenuation and amplification models of ground motions for Bangkok sites. First, by analysing soil profile of Bangkok using Latin Hypercube sampling technique, critical attenuation and amplification characteristics, such as peak ground acceleration, ground motion intensity, frequency content and significant ground duration, were obtained. Then, the statistical information on the attenuation and amplification models of these characteristics was established and used to conduct a series of non-linear seismic analysis of a typical four storey commercial building in Bangkok. The research outcomes demonstrate that the developed models are capable of predicting the damage indices of buildings in Bangkok under different earthquake intensities and epicentral distances.

Outrigger system is a more popular structural system in tall buildings and higher mode participation in such buildings is an important aspect in design. During severe earthquake impacts, buildings undergo inelastic deformations, and this can lead to lengthening of modal periods of the building. Since higher mode effects have a significant impact on the overall behavior in tall buildings, the impact due to lengthening of modal periods needs to be addressed in the design. In this study, a simple assessment method is presented to quantify the effect of higher mode response on the behavior of outrigger braced buildings under seismic loads. The method comprises of simplifying the building to vertical cantilever with lateral degrees of freedom equal to number of stories and rotational springs with equivalent spring stiffness at corresponding outrigger locations. A pin-based structure was assumed to limit the first mode response to represent the transition from elastic to inelastic status of the building. The proposed method is capable of estimating the inelastic lengthened periods for higher modes and their responses in outrigger braced tall buildings. The developed method was applied to a case study outrigger braced tall building and reasonable results are predicted.

Bridges play an important role in economic development and bring important social benefits. The development of innovative bridge monitoring techniques will enable road authorities to optimize operational and maintenance activities for bridges. However, monitoring the dynamic behavior of a bridge requires a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between the bridge and traffic loading which has not been fully achieved so far. In the present study, an integrated bridge health monitoring framework is developed using advanced 3D Finite Element modeling in conjunction with Weight-in-motion (WIM) technology and interferometric radar sensors (IBIS-S). The realistic traffic loads imposed on the bridge will be obtained through calibration and validation of traffic loading prediction model using real-time bridge dynamic behavior captured by IBIS-S and WIM data. Using the Merlynston Creek Bridge in Melbourne, Australia as a case study, it demonstrated that the proposed bridge monitoring framework can both efficiently and accurately capture the real-time dynamic behavior of the bridge under traffic loading as well as the dynamic characteristics of the bridge. The outcomes from this research could potentially enhance the durability of bridges which is an important component of the sustainability of transport infrastructure.

There are over 300 timber bridges on Queensland state controlled roads which require constant maintenance as the timber components deteriorate over time. Inspections are done at three levels depending on the necessity. A significant number of the defects are due to poor practices such as excessive sniping of girders and corbels, which contribute to many bridges being rated in poor condition. This causes costs to increase due to increased inspection frequencies and rectification works. The aim of this research is to critically investigate the effect of sniping on the overall structural performance of individual bridge elements. Based on inspection reports for timber bridges, it is understood that sniping is a major issue and it contributes towards the deterioration of the whole member. Structural analysis has been carried out using finite element modelling in Ansys. Finite element modelling allows idealised timber components to be analysed under different loading conditions. This has been used to compare the effect of snipe depth on the structural integrity of timber components such as girders and corbels. As snipe depth increases, stress concentrations form at the snipe resulting in increased risk of splitting. Based on this modelling, some recommendations are made regarding the future assessment of component condition states.