National Academies Press: OpenBook
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2007. Final Report for NCHRP Report 581: Design of Construction Work Zones on High-Speed Highways. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22044.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2007. Final Report for NCHRP Report 581: Design of Construction Work Zones on High-Speed Highways. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22044.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2007. Final Report for NCHRP Report 581: Design of Construction Work Zones on High-Speed Highways. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22044.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2007. Final Report for NCHRP Report 581: Design of Construction Work Zones on High-Speed Highways. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22044.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2007. Final Report for NCHRP Report 581: Design of Construction Work Zones on High-Speed Highways. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22044.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, and was conducted in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies. COPYRIGHT PERMISSION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, Transit Development Corporation, or AOC endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. DISCLAIMER The opinion and conclusions expressed or implied in the report are those of the research agency. They are not necessarily those of the TRB, the National Research Council, AASHTO, or the U.S. Government. This report has not been edited by TRB.

AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research reported herein was performed under NCHRP Project 3-69 by the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (PTI), of the Pennsylvania State University, and the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). PTI was the contractor for this project, and TTI was a subcontractor through the Texas A&M Research Foundation. Kevin M. Mahoney, Senior Research Associate and Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, PTI, was the Principal Investigator. The other authors of the report are Richard J. Porter, Research Assistant, PTI; Douglas R. Taylor, Xerographic Systems Engineer, Xerox Corporation, and former PTI Graduate Research Assistant; Bohdan T. Kulakowski, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, PTI; and Gerald L. Ullman, Research Engineer, TTI. The work was performed under the general supervision of Dr. Mahoney. The authors acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of state DOT personnel who provided valuable input through responses to a survey. Additionally, the Pennsylvania DOT and Texas DOT provided a special contribution by enabling the research team to collect work zone speed data on active construction projects.

CONTENTS 1 SUMMARY 5 CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1.1 Background, 5 1.2 Research Scope and Priorities, 6 1.3 Organization of This Report, 7 8 CHAPTER 2 Review of Work Zone Safety Literature 2.1 Data and Methodologies, 8 2.2 Quantitative Safety Effects of Work Zone Design Features, 9 2.2.1 Work Zone Length, 9 2.2.2 Traffic Diversion Strategies, 10 2.2.3 Ramps, 13 2.2.4 Lane Widths, 14 2.3 Work Zone Crash Characteristics, 15 2.3.1 Crash Magnitude and Severity, 15 2.3.2 Crash Type and Location, 16 2.4 Summary of Work Zone Research, 16 18 CHAPTER 3 Current Work Zone Design Guidance 3.1 National Guidance, 18 3.1.1 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 18 3.1.2 A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, 21 3.1.3 Roadside Design Guide, 21 3.1.4 Highway Capacity Manual, 24 3.1.5 Summary, 27 3.2 State Transportation Agency Guidance and Practice, 28 3.2.1 Work Zone Design Strategies and Assessment, 29 3.2.1.1 Capacity Considerations, 29 3.2.1.2 Construction Contract Options, 30 3.2.1.3 Strategy/Type Selection, 30 3.2.2 Principles of Design, 30 3.2.2.1 Speed, 30 3.2.2.2 Sight Distance, 33 3.2.2.3 Superelevation, 34 3.2.3 Alignment, 35 3.2.3.1 Vertical Alignment, 35 3.2.3.2 Horizontal Alignment, 35 3.2.4 Roadway Cross Section Elements, 36 3.2.4.1 Travel Lane Width, 36 3.2.4.2 Traveled Way Surface Type, 37 3.2.4.3 Shoulder Width, 38 3.2.4.4 Shoulder Surface Type, 38 3.2.4.5 Barrier Offset, 38 3.2.4.6 Shoulder Rollover, 40 3.2.5 Roadside and Barrier Placement, 40 3.2.5.1 Clear Zone, 41 3.2.5.2 Barrier Placement Guidance, 41 3.2.5.3 Traffic Barriers, 43 3.2.6 Ancillary Design Information, 44 3.2.6.1 Drainage, 44 3.2.6.2 Turnouts, 45

3.2.6.3 Visual Barriers, 46 3.2.6.4 Interchange Speed Change Lanes, 47 3.2.6.5 Large Vehicle Accommodation, 50 3.2.6.6 Review of Contractor Traffic Control Plans, 50 51 CHAPTER 4 Methodology and Findings 4.1 Development of Roadside Design and Temporary Barrier Placement Guidance for Construction Work Zones, 51 4.1.1 Research Methodology, 51 4.1.2 Roadside Principles and Practices for Permanent Roadways, 52 4.1.2.1 Benefit-Cost Analysis for Permanent Roadways, 53 4.1.2.2 Use of Roadside and Median Barriers for Permanent Roadways, 55 4.1.3 Existing and Ongoing Research on Construction Work Zone Roadside Design and Safety, 57 4.1.4 Existing State DOT Construction Work Zone Roadside Design Guidance, 59 4.1.5 Incremental Benefit-Cost Analysis for Work Zone Scenarios, 59 4.1.5.1 RSAP, 60 4.1.5.2 Adaptation of RSAP for Work Zone Analysis, 63 4.1.6 Integration and Fusion to Develop Roadside Design Guidance, 71 4.2 Speed Model, 72 4.2.1 Introduction to Artificial Neural Networks, 72 4.2.2 Selection of Input Variables, 74 4.2.3 Data Collection and Descriptive Statistics, 74 4.2.4 Methodology for Development of ANN Model, 84 4.2.5 Results, 86 4.2.6 Excel Implementation, 90 4.2.7 Conclusions, 91 4.3 Preliminary and Detailed Design of Specific Work Zone Types and Features, 91 4.3.1 Work Zone Strategies and Planning, 92 4.3.2 Controls and Principles, 93 4.3.2.1 Sight Distance, 94 4.3.2.2 Roadway Surface and Cross Section, 95 4.3.2.3 Horizontal Alignment-Superelevation, 95 4.3.2.4 Vertical Alignment, 95 4.3.3 Detailed Guidance by Work Zone Type, 95 4.3.3.1 Diversion, 96 4.3.3.2 Lane Constriction, 96 4.3.3.3 Median Crossover, 97 4.3.3.4 Use of Shoulder, 98 4.3.3.5 Interchange Ramps, 99 4.3.3.6 At-Grade Intersections, 99 4.3.4 Ancillary Design Features, 99 101 CHAPTER 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 5.1 Conclusions, 101 5.2 Recommendations, 102 104 REFERENCES A-1 APPENDIXES

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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 105 is the contractor’s final report on the research activities used to develop NCHRP Report 581: Design of Construction Work Zones on High-Speed Highways. NCHRP Report 581 explores an approach for the selection of an appropriate construction work zone type; offers suggested guidance for the design of geometric features, including horizontal and vertical alignment, cross-sectional features, and barrier placement; and examines a variety of ancillary features such as drainage systems, lighting, and surface type. As part of the research associated with this activity, a work zone prediction model and user's guide was created to help estimate free-flow vehicle speeds through two types of construction work zones on four lane freeways--single lane closures and median crossovers.

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