Rumble Strips Installation on Thin Pavement Overlays
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Rumble Strips Installation on Thin Pavement Overlays Morgan State University The Pennsylvania State University University of Maryland University of Virginia Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University West Virginia University The Pennsylvania State University The Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute Transportation Research Building University Park, PA 16802-4710 Phone: 814-865-1891 Fax: 814-863-3707 www.mautc.psu.edu Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. No. FHWA-PA-2014-007-PSU WO 7 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date September 3, 2014 Rumble Strips Installation on Thin Pavement Overlays 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Eric T. Donnell, Mansour Solaimanian, Shelley M. Stoffels, and Philip N. Kulis LTI-2015-04 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute The Pennsylvania State University 11. Contract or Grant No. 201 Transportation Research Building University Park, PA 16802 4400008014, Work Order # PSU 007 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Final Report: 3/3/2014 – 9/3/2014 Bureau of Planning and Research Commonwealth Keystone Building th 400 North Street, 6 Floor 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Harrisburg, PA 17120-0064 15. Supplementary Notes Girish Modi ([email protected]), Chief, Highway Safety, Risk Management and Crash Data Analysis, and Christopher Speese ([email protected]), Manager, Safety Engineering and Risk Management, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, served as the technical advisors on the project. Heather Heslop ([email protected]) was the research project manager. 16. Abstract The purpose of this project was to establish a synthesis of best practices from various state and other transportation agency stakeholders regarding the installation and re-installation of rumble strips on pavements treated with a thin pavement overlay. This was completed based on a review of existing literature and a state transportation agency outreach effort. The best practices are intended to provide a standardized, cost-effective process for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to effectively utilize rumble strips in conjunction with thin pavement overlays. These include three rumble strip types (centerline, edge line, and shoulder), two standard rumble strip depths (3/8-inch and ½-inch), and three thin overlay types (hot-mix asphalt, microsurfacing, and seal coat). 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement No restrictions. This document is Rumble strips, thin pavement overlays, microsurfacing, seal coat, hot-mix available asphalt from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 50 N/A Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized This work was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of either the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at the time of publication. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ ii INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 Project Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 3 Organization of Report ................................................................................................................ 3 DESIGN GUIDANCE .................................................................................................................... 4 Rumble Strips on Structural Pavements ...................................................................................... 4 Re-installing Rumble Strips on Thin Pavement Overlays .......................................................... 5 Monitoring Performance ........................................................................................................... 13 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 14 APPENDIX A: LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................... 16 Federal Highway Administration Guidance .............................................................................. 16 New Hampshire Department of Transportation Research ........................................................ 16 Summary of Literature Review ................................................................................................. 19 APPENDIX B: SURVEY INSTRUMENT ................................................................................. 20 APPENDIX C: SURVEY RESPONSES ..................................................................................... 25 APPENDIX D: TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SURVEY RESULTS ................................... 29 State Transportation Agencies without Rumble Strip Policies ................................................. 30 State Transportation Agencies with Rumble Strip Policies ...................................................... 32 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Engineering District Practices ............................ 39 APPENDIX E: SUMMARY OF STATE TRANSPORTATION AGENCY RUMBLE STRIP DIMENSIONS AND THIN OVERLAY GUIDANCE ................................................ 41 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Highways with Edge Line or Shoulder Rumble Strips Only ........................................... 7 Table 2. Undivided Highway with Centerline Rumble Strips Only ............................................ 11 Table 3. Undivided Highway with Centerline and Edge Line or Shoulder Rumble Strips ......... 12 Table 4. New Rumble Strips on Thin Pavement Overlays .......................................................... 12 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Edge Line Rumble Strip Mileage versus Run-off-Road Fatalities. ................................ 1 Figure 2. Centerline Rumble Strip Mileage versus Head-on Fatalities in Pennsylvania. .............. 2 Figure 3. Illustration of State Transportation Agencies Responding to Survey. ......................... 29 Figure 4. Example of Pavement Score = 7 in New York State (NYSDOT, 2010). ..................... 36 INTRODUCTION Rumble strips are milled, rolled, formed, or raised patterns in the pavement surface that produce auditory and tactile vibration to inattentive or drowsy drivers when departing the traveled way. The most common applications of rumble strips are on highway shoulders or edge lines (referred to as shoulder or edge line rumble strips) or on the centerline of undivided highways (referred to as centerline rumble strips). Research has shown that shoulder rumble strips are an effective safety countermeasure on urban and rural freeways, rural two-lane highways, and rural multi- lane divided highways. Similarly, centerline rumble strips have been shown to improve safety on urban and rural two-lane highways (Torbic et al., 2009). In 1995, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) began using shoulder rumble strips on multi-lane highways in the Commonwealth, and has since installed thousands of miles of shoulder and edge line rumble strips throughout the state on a variety of roadway types. Figure 1 shows that the number of run-off-road fatalities in Pennsylvania has decreased as the mileage of edge line rumble strips has increased. Additionally, more than 4,600 miles of centerline rumble strips have been installed on undivided highways in Pennsylvania since 2001. Figure 2 shows that the number of head-on fatalities in Pennsylvania on undivided highways has decreased as the mileage of centerline rumble strips has increased. 5,000 800 4,487 775 4,197 4,101 757 750 745 4284 4,000 745 3994 725 725 703 3899 700 3,101 3,000 680 3101 675 665 650 Year Average) - 5 625 2,000 626 Cumulative Miles 1,552 600 Fatalities( 1,108 575 985 1,000 862 550 525 0 500 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Cumulative Miles of Edgeline Rumble Strips Modified Mileage to Reflect Thin Overlay Removal Single Vehicle Run-Off-Road Fatalities (5-Year Average) Run-Off-Road Fatalities Trendline Figure 1. Edge Line Rumble Strip Mileage versus Run-off-Road Fatalities. 1 6,000 225 222 5,330 4,952 5,000 4,832 4,969 200 194 4,641 4,592 4,000 3,745 3,690 175 YearAverage) - 5 3,231 168 3,000 Cumulative Miles 165 158 2,518 152 Fatalities( 152 150 2,000 148 2,017 1,737 1,000 125 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Cumulative Miles of Centerline Rumble Strips Modified Mileage to Reflect Thin Overlay Removal Non-Intersection Head-On Fatalities (5-Year Average) Non-Intersection Head-On Fatalities Trendline Figure 2.