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RISK-BASED MANAGEMENT OF GUARDRAILS: SITE SELECTION AND UPGRADING. Presented to The Project Steering Committee by The Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems September 15 th , 2000. Project Team. VDOT Richmond District
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RISK-BASED MANAGEMENT OF GUARDRAILS: SITE SELECTION AND UPGRADING Presented to The Project Steering Committee by The Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems September 15th, 2000
Project Team VDOT Richmond District Travis Bridewell, District Traffic Engineer, Richmond District Jeff Wilkinson, Transportation Engineer, Traffic Engineering Section, Richmond District Baron Gissendaner Virginia Transportation Research Council Wayne S. Ferguson, Research Manager Steering Committee Steve Edwards, Transportation Engineer Senior, Traffic Engineering Division, Central Office Paul Kelley, Transportation Engineer, Location and Design Division, Central Office Charlie Kilpatrick, Fredericksburg Resident Engineer, Fredericksburg District Bob McCarty, Senior Field Operations Engineer, Federal Highway Administration - Richmond Ginger Quinn, District Safety Officer, Traffic Engineering Section, Salem District Nancy Berry, Transportation Engineering Program Supervisor, Location and Design Division, Central Office
Project Team (cont.) Additional Current and Former Resident Engineers Bill Bushman Angela Tucker Willie Gentry Alan Leatherwood Dan Roosevelt Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems James H. Lambert, Research Assistant Professor of Systems Engineering Yacov Y. Haimes, Quarles Professor of Systems Engineering and Civil Engineering and Center Director Jeffrey A. Baker, BS/MS Student Kenneth Peterson, Undergraduate Student Capstone Team Christian Baldwin Irene Jacoub Mike Raker
Agenda I. Motivation II. Data representation for Hazard Catalog III. Data representation for Corridor Screening IV. Data representation for Site Prioritization V. Discussion
Motivation • Public and transportation-agency priorities concerning the location of roadway guardrails are in need of clarification • The concerns of Virginians for adequate guardrails relative to national norms are high • Current practice in some VDOT Districts for selecting locations for new guardrails is based upon citizen complaints, a general knowledge of roadway needs from local engineers, and accident history
Motivation (cont.) • E.g., there are hundreds of candidate locations on the thirteen-county secondary system of Richmond District; over 50,000 miles of roadway in Virginia • Kentucky developed a hazard-index point system (Kentucky Transportation Center Report KTC-89-39 "Warrants and Guidelines for Installation of Guardrail") • Particular locations in New Kent and Charles City County were the focus of a related preliminary study in Richmond District
Purpose and Scope • Objectives: • Review and evaluation of what others have done • Adoption of assessment methods and quantitative and qualitative factors • Development of a tradeoff methodology • Specification and prototype development of databases
Overview of Approach A data driven approach to assessing risk and evaluating safety of candidate guardrail locations by • Catalog • Screening phases • Evaluation phases • Data needs in a case study • Developing Software
Corridor Screening • Select corridors to examine
Site Prioritization • Select locations along given corridor
New Kent Case Study • Data Collection for Corridor Screening Tool • Accident statistics of given corridors • Routes 601-665 • Data Collection for Site Prioritization and Hazard Catalog Tool • Routes 611, 613, 640, 665
Purpose • Compile an inventory of hazard sites and guardrail coverage, and conditions of guardrails • Compare and contrast routes to determine which are in need of further study • Present in a graphical format information pertinent to decisions about improvements
Hazard Catalog Screening (cont.) Size of bubbles represent cost/value
Hazard Catalog Screening (cont.) Size of bubbles represent cost
Hazard Catalog Screening (cont.) Size of bubbles represent cost/value
Purpose • Compare corridors for frequency and severity of accidents • Highlight corridors that have greatest accidents/DVMT ratio • Compare results with current guardrail coverage
Purpose • Decide which sites should be improved with the current budget constraint • Consider multiple criteria
Example • Maximize length of hazard protected • Subject to budget constraints • (E.g. total cost < $30,000)
Site Prioritization Tool Analysis • Compare sites and their characteristics (cost, severity, ADT) • Select routes with the highest benefit/cost ratios that fall within a budget constraint
Site Prioritization (cont.) Size of bubbles represent cost/value ($)
Site Prioritization (cont.) Size of bubbles represent cost/value ($)
Site Prioritization (cont.) Size of bubbles represent cost/value ($)
Comparison of Results • Results can be compared to show the consistency of need at a location • Budget constraint kept constant • Example: • Locations 1,2,3,7, and 9 are recommended by the model to maximize severity protected
Summary and Future Work • The spreadsheet tools provides a way to optimally select hazard sites within the budget constraints • Comparing results from different solutions can reveal the locations most appropriate for improvement
Summary and Future Work (cont.) • Issues for Implementation • Definition of Severity • Environmental Factors • Curvature of Road
Web Page • http://www.virginia.edu/~risk/guardrail/ • Public reference for guardrails and treatment of issue • Communication between VDOT and Capstone • Software, instructions, and powerpoint
The Web Site • Statement of Work • Guardrail Photos • Current Team • Contact Information • Related Links • Downloads