Performance of Temporary Rumble Strips at the Edge of Highway Construction Zones

Abstract

This paper describes the results of field experiments conducted to evaluate the performance of temporary rumble strips at the edge of work zones as a new safety measure to prevent inattentive drivers from encroaching onto the work area in a manner similar to the way permanent rumble strips are used. The two main objectives of these experiments are to (1) analyze and compare the effectiveness of various layouts of temporary rumble strips and (2) provide practical recommendations to improve the design and layout of temporary rumble strips. The experiments evaluated the impact of five parameters on the effectiveness of temporary rumble strips and their generated sound levels: (1) rumble strip type; (2) number of strips per set; (3) strip spacing; (4) vehicle type; and (5) vehicle speed. A total of 162 different combinations of these parameters were tested to evaluate their individual and collective impact on the effectiveness of temporary rumble strips. The findings of this study indicate that temporary rumble strips at the edge of work zones generate adequate sound levels to alert inattentive drivers. The results of the experiments also indicate that the effectiveness of temporary rumble strips can be improved by (1) increasing the number of strips per set as practically as feasible and (2) using temporary rumble strips with larger widths.