Missouri Demonstration Project: The Use of High-Friction Surface Treatments on Missouri Highways

As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE program, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) was awarded a $120,000 grant to demonstrate the use of high-friction surfaces as a durable and cost-effective method to increase safety on Missouri highways. This report documents the placement of high-friction surfaces at four locations around the State. A study of the crash history in these areas indicated a need to improve friction to reduce the number of incidents that could be related to friction. This report details the innovation used to rehabilitate two segments of I-44 in Phelps County, one segment of US 54 in Cole County, and several locations on MO 179 near the intersection with US 54, also in Cole County. Although not directly comparable in terms of benefits, the cost of the four high friction surface treatment (HFST) projects was substantially greater than would have been the case with traditional ultra-thin bonded asphalt wearing surface. Costs for the installed HFST ranged from $17 to $21.5 per square yard compared to a cost of $4.12 per square yard for a traditional ultra-thin bonded asphalt wearing surface, resulting in additional cost of more than $520,000 for all four locations. However, the additional costs were significantly less compared to costs associated with realigning the section of the roadway to address run-off-road (ROR) crashes. The friction numbers obtained with this innovation far exceeded those that would be expected with the ultra-thin bonded asphalt wearing surface, which translates to fewer post-construction accident rates. Using crash data from the first year following one of the four projects, the reduction of 27 crashes during the period at just this one location results in a savings of about $966,300, or nearly twice the additional cost of HFST placement at all four locations combined. Using present worth cost of crashes and MODOT’s target of 20 percent reduction in accidents results in a minimum savings of $4,136,000, over the 9-year life of the treatment. The use of high-friction surfaces resulted in extremely high friction numbers, far above those generally recorded for traditional surface treatments. The experience gained on these successful projects will help Missouri use high-friction surfaces more routinely on future projects.

• Record URL:
  http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/Missouri%20High%20Friction%20Report%20draft%20Final.pdf
• 
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/54514
• Corporate Authors:

  Applied Research Associates, Incorporated

  100 Trade Center Drive, Suite 200
  Champaign, IL  United States  61820

  Federal Highway Administration

  Office of Infrastructure
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Bledsoe, Jay
• Publication Date: 2015-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 48p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cost effectiveness; Costs; Crash rates; Demonstration projects; Friction; Ran off road crashes; Rehabilitation; Skid resistance; Surface course (Pavements); Technological innovations
• Identifier Terms: Highways for LIFE
• Uncontrolled Terms: High-friction surface treatment
• Geographic Terms: Missouri
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01578163
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Oct 14 2015 4:25PM