Chainage is the distance along a road from the start of its road section, measured in kilometres. It's how Queensland's Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), traffic management designers, contractors and inspectors describe exactly where something is on a state-controlled road. Chainage finds it for you in a couple of seconds.
01Getting started
- Open chainage.com.au in your browser. You don't need an account to find chainages.
- Tap Find my chainage to use your location, or tap anywhere on the map.
- To save points, photos and projects, create a free account (Starter plan). Confirm your email address from the message we send you.
On a phone, add Chainage to your home screen so it opens like an app. See Tips and shortcuts.
The first time you tap Find my chainage, your browser asks to use your location. Allow it. If you said no by mistake, the app shows step-by-step instructions for iPhone and Android to turn it back on.
02Find a chainage
Tap or click the map
- On a computer, click anywhere and the result card opens on the left.
- On a phone, a single tap drops a pin and shows its chainage on the pin. To open the full details, tap the pin, double-tap, or press and hold on the map.
- Tapping the map keeps your current zoom. The map only moves if the pin would be hidden behind the card.
Use your GPS
Tap Find my chainage. Chainage zooms to you, shows your chainage on the button and keeps updating as you move. That's ideal for a passenger recording chainages during a drive-through inspection. If you pan the map, following pauses; tap the button to re-centre.
Take a chainage photo
While Chainage is following your location, a camera button appears next to the chainage (also Chainage photo on the result card). Every photo is stamped with the chainage, road, section and carriageway, the date and time, and your GPS position. After taking it, choose Save to phone (no project needed) or Save to project, which saves it as a chainage point with the photo attached. Phone camera uses your phone's own camera app for full resolution; the stamp is added when you return.
Search
Use the search bar at the top (press / on a keyboard). You can type:
- a road name, for example Bruce Highway or Gympie Road;
- a road section number, for example 10A or U14;
- coordinates in decimal (-27.4705, 153.0260) or degrees, minutes and seconds (27°28'13.8"S 153°01'33.6"E);
- or paste a Google Maps link shared from a phone, email or message.
Your recent searches and pins appear when you open search.
Go to a chainage on a road
With a result open, scroll to Find another chainage on this road. Enter a distance in kilometres or metres (switch with the km / m toggle) and tap Go, or jump to the Road start or Road end.
03Read the result
The result card shows everything Chainage knows about the point.
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Chainage | Distance along the road section in kilometres, for example 7.314 km, also shown as CH 7+314. The bar under it shows where you are between the section's start and end. |
| Road section | TMR's identifier for the stretch of road, for example 10A (Bruce Highway) or 489. |
| Carriageway | Which carriageway the chainage is on. See the glossary. |
| Distance to road | How far the point you picked is from the road centreline. |
| Section length | The full length of the road section. |
| Traffic (AADT) | Annual average daily traffic: vehicles per day, from TMR's traffic census. |
| Heavy vehicles | The share of that traffic that is heavy vehicles. |
| Speed limit | The nearest surveyed TMR speed sign along the road. |
Values with a map-pin icon (traffic count, heavy vehicles, speed sign) can be tapped to show on the map where that figure comes from.
More information loads extra detail on request: the current speed limit from OpenStreetMap and heavy-vehicle route access from the NHVR.
Below that are the actions:
- Save chainage point
- Make a chainage range
- Street View
- Google Maps
- Google and Apple directions
- Copy coords
- Share
04Dropped pins and snapping
If you tap right on a Main Road, the pin snaps to the road and shows its chainage. Tap anywhere else and it stays exactly where you put it as a cyan dropped pin, for example a site compound, a driveway or a sign location off the road. A dotted line joins it to the nearest road, labelled with the distance, and the card shows that road's nearest chainage.
You can switch at any time with Snap to road or Use dropped pin on the card. Both kinds can be saved to a project.
05Map views, 3D and night mode
- Main Roads overlay: state-controlled roads glow orange. Zoomed in, they show chainage marks every 100 m, labelled every 500 m, and every 100 m when you're close. Turn the overlay on or off with the road button on the right-hand toolbar.
- Base map: choose OpenStreetMap (the default), Google Maps or Google Satellite from the map button on the toolbar.
- Day and night: the sun/moon button switches between a light map and a dark navy night map. On Google Maps, night mode uses Google's own dark map.
- 3D: tap 3D to tilt the map; buildings stand up when you're zoomed in. You can also tilt and turn by hand: two fingers on a phone, or right-click and drag (or Ctrl and drag) on a computer. The compass button puts north back at the top and flattens the map.
- Full screen: the corners button hides your browser's toolbars.
06Street View
Tap Street View on a result to see the location full screen. The chainage point is drawn in the scene, with a compass along the top showing which way you're facing and a readout of how far away the point is.
- Walk along the road: click or tap the road and you move to that spot. On a computer, an orange ring on the road shows where a click will take you.
- Tap the pin to open its details card over Street View.
- Move the point: press and hold on the road (phone), or Ctrl + click (computer), to put the chainage point exactly where you're looking. The map and card update too.
- Back to the pin: if you walk far enough down the street that you've lost the pin, a Back to the pin button takes you back to the view facing it.
- Save point saves it straight into your project, and Google Maps opens the same view in Google.
08Save points and ranges to projects
Projects keep your saved work together. Each project has phases (for example stages of work or shifts), and each phase has its own layers (for example Signs, Closures, Detours). Base layers show in every phase, which suits things that never change, such as site access.
Save a point
- Find a chainage or drop a pin, then tap Save chainage point (or Save dropped pin).
- Choose the project and layer, or create new ones right there.
- Add a title, an optional map label that always shows on the map (for example SIGN A1), a marker shape and colour, and notes.
- Tap Save point.
Save a range
A range is a stretch of road between two chainages, such as a lane closure or work zone, drawn along the road itself. On a result, tap Make a chainage range. Then tap the end of the range on the same road, or type the end chainage, pick a colour and line style, and save.
The line always follows the road. Where your carriageway doesn't exist for part of the range — for example carriageway 2 of a highway that's only divided in places — the line follows the carriageway that does, and the range tool tells you where.
Work with saved items
Tap an item on the map or in the project panel to open its card. From there you can:
- edit its details;
- move it or change its chainage;
- add photos straight from your camera, stamped with the point's chainage and the date and time;
- add links;
- open it in Street View.
The current project
The project you're working in shows in the Project / Phase / Layer box (top right on a computer, under the logo on a phone). New points go into the layer selected there. To use the map without a project, tap the ✕ on that box or choose Close this project from your account menu. Open it again any time from Projects.
See several projects at once
Tap Projects on the map (the two-circle button on the map tools, or Projects on map in the project panel):
- Choose projects — tick every project you want to see. You edit one at a time (marked Editing); the others show view-only and slightly faded. Tap one of their items and choose Work on this project to switch.
- Areas overview — see where all your projects are. Each project has its own colour, and places far apart show as separate areas. Point at (or tap) an area to light up every area of that project, then choose Work on this project to open it right there.
09The project hub
Projects home (in your account menu, top right) lists every project you can open:
- your own projects, in folders you create;
- company projects;
- Shared with me.
Search by name, or type #tag to filter by tag.
Opening a project shows its hub:
- Overview: client, job or reference number, status, dates, location, notes, and recent activity. Tap Open map to work on the map.
- Files: drag in PDFs, drawings, spreadsheets and documents (up to 500 MB each) so the current TGS or TMP is always with the job.
- Activity: who added, edited, moved or deleted what, and when.
- Access & sharing: the people who can open the project, and its share links.
- Settings: export to GeoJSON (for GIS) or CSV (for spreadsheets), move the project into a company, or delete it.
11Companies and teams
A company workspace (Business or Government plan) lets a team share projects, folders and pooled storage, with each person's access set by their role.
- Create a company: open Teams & companies from your account menu, choose a plan and the number of seats, and pay by card. You become its owner.
- Invite members: enter their email address and choose a role. The invitation arrives by email.
- Roles: Owner, Admin, Accounts, Project manager, Editor, Contributor and Viewer are built in, and you can add your own. Each role has a list of permissions you can switch on or off, for example creating projects, deleting items, creating share links, creating links without a password, managing billing and exporting.
- Seats: roles that can change things use a paid seat; view-only roles are free.
- Many companies, one login: one person can belong to several companies, and each company pays for its own seats.
- Settings: the owner or an admin can rename the company (pencil next to its name), and the owner can transfer ownership. Government companies can require passwords and expiry dates on every share link.
12Plans and billing
| Plan | Price (AUD, final price) | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Free | Up to 10 projects, 50 MB storage, share links, photos and files. |
| Professional | $9 per month | Unlimited projects and 10 GB storage for one person. |
| Business | $50 per seat per month ($19 launch price for companies that subscribe by 30 November 2026) | Company workspace, roles and permissions, 30 GB pooled storage per seat. |
| Government | $50 per seat per month ($19 launch price for companies that subscribe by 30 November 2026) | Everything in Business, plus priority support, invoicing on request and share-link security policies. |
Need more space? Add storage packs of 50 GB for $19 per month. Manage your plan from Plan & billing in the account menu: upgrade, change seats or packs, update your card and download invoices. Cancel any time; you keep your plan until the end of the period you've paid for. Full details are on the pricing page.
13Tips and shortcuts
- Install on iPhone: in Safari, tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen.
- Install on Android: in Chrome, open the ⋮ menu, then Install app (or Add to Home screen).
- Keyboard: / jumps to search and Esc closes whatever is on top. In Street View, Ctrl + click moves the chainage point.
- Copy fast: the copy icon next to the chainage copies it; Copy coords copies the latitude and longitude.
- Found an unexpected result? Check whether the pin snapped to the road you meant. At interchanges and dual carriageways, zoom in and tap directly on the carriageway you want.
14Glossary
| Chainage | Distance along a road from the start of its road section, in kilometres. Written as 25.306 km or CH 25+306 (25 km plus 306 m). |
|---|---|
| TMR | The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, which manages the state-controlled road network and publishes the road data Chainage uses. |
| State-controlled road | A road managed by TMR, often called a Main Road: highways, motorways and main arterial roads. Council-managed local roads aren't included. |
| Road section | TMR's identifier for a length of road, such as 10A. Chainage restarts at the beginning of each section. |
| Carriageway | One side of the road. Code 1 is a single (undivided) carriageway; 2 and 3 are the two sides of a divided road; other codes cover ramps, service roads and other connecting carriageways. |
| AADT | Annual average daily traffic: the average number of vehicles per day over a year. |
| Heavy vehicles (HV %) | The percentage of traffic that is heavy vehicles, from TMR's traffic census. |
| Dropped pin | A point saved exactly where you placed it, off the road, with the nearest chainage recorded alongside. |
| Chainage range | A stretch of road between two chainages, drawn along the road, such as a closure or work zone. |
| TGS / TMP | Traffic Guidance Scheme and Traffic Management Plan: the documents that set out how traffic is managed around work on the road. |
15Frequently asked questions
Is Chainage free?
Yes. Finding chainages is free and doesn't need an account, and the free Starter plan lets you save up to 10 projects with 50 MB of photos and files. Paid plans add unlimited projects, more storage and company workspaces.
How accurate is the chainage?
Chainage uses TMR's reference points, which are about every 10 m along each carriageway, and works out the exact position between them. That's accurate to within a few metres of TMR's own data. Your result also depends on where you tap or on your GPS (the card shows GPS accuracy). Chainages are approximate: check them against TMR records or survey marks for work where the exact position matters.
Which roads are covered?
All of Queensland's state-controlled roads, the roads managed by the Department of Transport and Main Roads. Council-managed local roads don't have TMR chainages, so tapping one shows the nearest state-controlled road instead.
Where does the data come from, and how current is it?
The road, chainage and traffic data comes from TMR open data published by the Queensland Government. Chainage checks for new releases every day and updates automatically. Live speed limits come from OpenStreetMap, and heavy-vehicle route access from the NHVR.
Does it work without mobile reception?
Chainage needs an internet connection to look up chainages and load the map. In areas with weak reception, results can take a little longer.
Is my location stored?
Your location is used to look up the chainage. Only points you choose to save are kept in your projects. For usage statistics we record the first location shared and first pin dropped each day, without your name. See the Privacy Policy for details.
Does it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes. It runs in Safari, Chrome, Edge and other modern browsers on phones, tablets and computers. You can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app.
Do people I share with need an account?
No. Anyone with a share link can open what that link includes, entering the password if you set one. People you invite to a project as viewers use a free account.
Can I export my data?
Yes. Every project can be exported to GeoJSON for GIS tools or CSV for spreadsheets from the project's Settings tab.
Why might a chainage differ slightly from a roadside marker?
Roadside distance markers and the digital network aren't always updated at the same time, especially after a road is realigned. Tapping slightly beside the road, GPS accuracy and the carriageway you snap to can also shift the result by a few metres. For precise work, confirm critical chainages on site or with TMR.
16Help and support
Questions, feedback or a chainage that doesn't look right? Email support@tekswipe.com.au and include a share link to the location if you can. Companies on the Government plan get priority support.
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