Glossary

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Acronyms . A . B . C . D . E . F . G . H . I . J . K . L . M . N . O . P . Q . R . S . T . U . V . W . X . Y . Z . All

Baggage Carousel - A baggage carousel is a mechanical conveyor belt-like device, designed to deliver checked luggage to travelers after they have disembarked.

Balance Tank - A Balance Tank is a tank or reservoir used to store water for the purpose of equalising or balancing fluctuating demand.

Ball Valve - A ball valve is a valve that uses a ball shaped disk to start and stop flow. Ball valves are one of the simplest valve types, and are made in 1-piece, 2-piece and 3-piece configurations. They tend to be the cheapest valve type and one of the easiest to maintain.

Barbecue - A Barbecue (also Barbeque & BBQ) is an outdoor cooking device often located in Council parks.

Barbecue Shelter - A barbecue shelter is a shelter erected above a barbecue to provide shade and/or protection rain.

Baseline Water Use - Baseline Water Use is the water usage for all sites within an organisation’s Water Management Action Plan over a 12 month period.

Belt Press - A belt press or belt press filter is a device used to separate out sludge from wastewater. Belt presses typically consist of two permeable filter belts and a number of rollers.

Benchmarking - Benchmarking is a process to measure, analyse, assess and describe an organisation’s performance against agreed criteria for appropriate management purposes. It is a tool used to compare a company’s performance against recognised benchmarks, targets or compliance with local laws.

Bicycle Activity Area - A bicycle activity area is an area within a playground designed for use by children with bicycles.

Bicycle Lane - A bicycle lane is a narrow traffic lane set aside on a road for the use of cyclists.

Bicycle Path - A Bicycle Path (or Cycle Path) is a track, path, track or lane designated for use by cyclists from which motorised traffic is generally excluded.

Bikeway - A bikeway is a road, track, path or marked lane designated for use by cyclists from which motorised traffic is generally excluded.

Binder - A binder is a bituminous material used for waterproofing the surface of a road or similar pavement and holding an aggregate layer to it.

Biocement - Biocement is a term coined by Dr Cord Ruwisch of Murdoch University to describe calcium carbonate formed by soil based bacteria. Biocement can "set" sand into a solid rock-type material without the need to remove the sand from its location.

Biofilm - A biofilm is a microbial layer that is formed on the inside of water distribution pipes. The source of the bacteria is the water itself. Even treated water is not 100% free of bacteria. These bacteria remain after surviving the treatment process or ingress into the pipes by other means and thereby escape treatment.

Biofiltration System - A Biofiltration System is a system that uses plants or other biological agents to treat water.

Bioretention Swale - A bioretention swale is a swale with a bioretention system installed in its base.

Bioretention System - A Bioretention System is a system that uses vegetation to reduce downstream flow velocities and subsequent drain sizes whilst facilitating treatment. Bio-retention systems combine various Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) treatment types in one 'treatment train'. A system is designed to carry out primary and/or secondary treatment processes of stormwaters and retard flows. This retention or retardation can enable sediments to precipitate out of the water taking along with it some pollutants. The use of biological processes to 'treat' stormwater whilst facilitating conveyance and retention gives rise to the title of Bio-retention.

Bio-Retention System - [[include Bioretention-System]]

Biosolids - Biosolids is sewage sludge that has been treated to reduce disease causing pathogens, thus becoming suitable for beneficial reuse. Biosolids have been used in:

Bitumen - Bitumen is a very viscous liquid or a solid, consisting essentially of hydrocarbons and their derivatives, which are soluble in carbon disulphide. It is substantially non-volatile and softens gradually when heated. It possesses waterproofing and adhesive properties. It is obtained from native asphalt or by processing the residue from the refining of naturally occurring crude petroleum. Bitumen is used in the construction of Sprayed Seals.

Bitumen Seal - Bitumen Seal -> Sprayed Seal

Black Water - Black water is water which contains human, food or animal waste.

Block Cracking - Block Cracking is a series of interconnecting cracks that form in a roughly rectangular pattern. It can occur in both concrete and flexible road pavements.

Blow Out - A blow out commonly occurs in pressure pipes due to corrosion pitting in metallic pipes.

Blower - A blower is a piece of machinery used to force air to flow from one point to another.

Boardwalk - A boardwalk is a raised typically wooden pathway designed for use by pedestrians and cyclists. Boardwalks are often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments.

Boat Ramp - A Boat Ramp is a structure for loading & unloading boats. A boat ramp provides a trafficable sloping surface that transitions from land to water and allows boats on trailers to be backed into the water and launched.

Boating Facility - A Boating Facility is any facility constructed for boating purposes, such as a pontoon, boat ramp or jetty.

Bollard - A bollard is a post designed to act as a barrier to traffic.

Boom Gate - A boom gate is a bar, or pole pivoted in such a way as to allow the boom to block vehicular access through a controlled point. It is generally electric motor driven and commonly has a system of vehicle detection for closing and authorised entry detection such as a card reader for opening.

Booster Pump Station - A Booster Pump Station is a pump station designed to boost the pressure of water within a long pipeline. Typically they would be used to boost low reticulation pressure in areas of higher elevation but can also be used to boost pressure in long transfer mains.

Border Road - Border Road -> Boundary Road

Bore - A Bore (or more specifically a Ground Water Bore) is a shaft constructed to extract water from an aquifer. If the water flows to the surface without the need for a pump, then the bore is called an artesian well.

Bore Pump Station - A Bore Pump Station is a water pump station designed to extract water from an aquifer.

Boundary Road - A Boundary Road is a road located on the boundary between municipalities.

Box Culvert - A Box Culvert is a П-shaped reinforced concrete structure used in civil engineering works, including; drainage and road works. Box culverts are most commonly used as an alternative to drainage pipes where design constraints limit the amount of cover available, but are also used in the construction of of a range of other assets including; pedestrian underpasses.

Breakdown Maintenance - Breakdown Maintenance is maintenance that is performed on an asset after it has failed.

Bridge - A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, railroad track, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle.

Bridge Hierarchy - A Bridge Hierarchy is a scheme for categorising bridges into groups that are treated similarly.

Bridge Load Limit - A bridge load limit is a restriction placed on the mass vehicles allowed to cross a given bridge.

Bro-Pit - A Bro-Pit is a precast Side Inlet Pit manufactured by Rocla.

Brownfields Valuation - A Brownfields Valuation is a valuation of an asset that takes into account the cost associated with; existing underground services, adjacent buildings or other similar constraints when calculating the replacement cost of the asset.

Buffer Zone - A buffer zone is an area of land separating certain types of development from adjoining sensitive land uses to minimise negative impacts.

Building - A building is any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy.

Building Audit - A building audit is an assessment of if a building is suitable for a given purpose, and/or what actions need to be undertaken to make the building suitable for an given purpose.

Building Envelope - The term Building Envelope is used to describe the structure of of a building including;

  • external walls, windows and doors
  • internal weight-bearing walls
  • cladding.

Building Hierarchy - A Building Hierarchy is a scheme for categorising buildings into groups that are treated similarly.

Building Permit - A building permit is a document that certifies that a building surveyor has approved documentation for proposed building work prior to its commencement.

Building Surveyor - A Building Surveyor is a person qualified to assess building plans to ensure they are compliant with building regulations including the Building Code of Australia Standards. They are responsible for making sure that buildings are safe, accessible and energy efficient.

Built-Up Area - The Australian Road Rules define a built-up area as "an area in which there are buildings on the land next to the road, or there us street lighting, at intervals not over 100 metres for a distance of at least 500 metres or if the road is shorter than 500 metres for the whole road.

Bus Bay - A Bus Bay is an indented space adjacent to a traffic lane designed to let buses embark and disembark passengers, without hindering the flow of traffic.

Bus Lane - A bus lane is a traffic lane restricted to buses on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion.

Bus Shelter - A Bus Shelter or Bus Stop Shelter is a shade structure erected adjacent to a bus stop, to shield potential passengers from rain and/or the sun.

Bus Zone - A bus zone is an area set aside for the exclusive use of public buses.

Business Case - A Business Case is a document that captures the reasoning for initiating a project or task.

Business Continuity Management - Business Continuity Management is a holistic management process that identifies potential impacts that threaten the organisation and provides a framework for building resilience with the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value creating and service delivery activities.

Business Continuity Plan - Business Continuity Plan is a plan that addresses the specific circumstances and needs of a business. It provides practical strategies to follow in a crisis, eg fire, flooding, storm, explosion, adverse market or financial circumstances, computer viruses or power outages.

Business Excellence Framework - A Business Excellence Framework is a management system that helps an organisation improve its practices.

Business Needs Analysis - A Business Needs Analysis is a study that attempts to identify business needs and determine solutions to business problems.

Business Plan - A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals.

Business Planning - Business Planning is the process of considering an organisation's future business opportunities & challenges, and putting into place mechanisms & strategies that attempt to ensure that the organisation's future business needs are met.

Butterfly Valve - A butterfly valve is used to regular flow through a pipe. The closing mechanism is a metal disk attached through its central axis to a vertical shaft. The rotation of the shaft moves the disk through the disk's vertical axis thereby opening or closing the pipe.

By-Product Aggregate - By-product aggregate is any aggregate created in the in process of producing another product. Examples include:

  • Blast furnace slag
  • Steel furnace slag
  • Fly Ash
  • Furnace bottom ash
  • Incinerator bottom ash
  • Coal washery reject
  • Crusher fines
  • Mine tailings
Acronyms . A . B . C . D . E . F . G . H . I . J . K . L . M . N . O . P . Q . R . S . T . U . V . W . X . Y . Z . All
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