Closed Course Testing of Portable Rumble Strips to Improve Truck Safety at Work Zones

The purpose of this research was to compare the attention-getting characteristics, movements and vertical displacements of several portable, reusable rumble strips. The attention-getting characteristics and displacement were measured after passes of a fully loaded heavy truck and a passenger vehicle. Sound and vibration tests revealed that the portable plastic rumble strips were more effective on cars than trucks for generating in-vehicle vibration and increasing in-vehicle sound levels. Further, they were generally better able to match the characteristics of the tested permanent rumble strip compared to the adhesive rumble strips, and that this was also true for the configurations that contained less than six portable plastic rumble strips. The configurations with four plastic rumble strips were found to be sufficient enough to generate similar vibration and sound levels for either heavy trucks or passenger cars. If the vibration generated by the permanent strips is considered as the standard performance, these configurations could be implemented in short-term work zones and provide similar results to permanent rumble strips. The movement and vertical displacement test results revealed that the earlier generations of plastic rumble strips did not perform as well as the fourth generation especially at 60 mph (96.6 km/hr). The steel rumble strips also hold some promise; however, the structural integrity of the steel rumble strips is an issue that needs to be addressed.

• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/34469
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program. Project Title: A Closed Course Feasibility Analysis of Temporary Rumble Strips for Use in Short Term Work Zones.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Kansas, Lawrence

  Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering
  1530 West 15th Street
  Lawrence, KS  United States  66045-7609

  Mid-America Transportation Center

  University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  2200 Vine Street, PO Box 830851
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68583-0851

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  University Transportation Centers Program
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Schrock, Steven D
  • Bai, Yong
  • Heaslip, Kevin P
  • Wang, Ming-Heng
  • Jasrotia, Romika
  • Rescot, Robert
  • Brady, Brandon
• Publication Date: 2010-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 58p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Automobiles; Rumble strips; Sound; Trucking safety; Trucks; Vibration; Work zone safety
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01680111
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: MATC-KU: 261, 25-1121-0001-261
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, RITA, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Sep 11 2018 11:16AM