Synthesis of Information Related to Highway Practices. Topic 54-13. Truck Emergency Escape Ramp Design and Operation

Transportation agencies build and operate escape ramps to allow heavy vehicles that cannot maintain safe speeds on steep downgrades to safely exit the highway before losing control and crashing. Escape ramps involve important design choices specific to roadway, terrain, and vehicle characteristics. Some escape ramps use upward-sloping beds of loose aggregate to slow the vehicles, while others employ passive or active mechanical devices such as cables to retard their motion. The use of escape ramps also requires operational choices. Some agencies use intelligent transportation technologies to detect trucks that are exceeding or may soon exceed speeds appropriate for the vehicle and the location, and to warn drivers of the need and means to exit the roadway. Because design and operations practices vary significantly among locations and agencies, no common design standards or recommended practices exist. Brake failures on heavy vehicles descending steep grades often result in serious crashes and fatalities. The objective of this synthesis is to document practices used by state departments of transportation (DOTs) to design and operate facilities to detect, guide, and capture out-of-control vehicles travelling on steep downgrades.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5296

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $55000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 20-05, Topic 54-13

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Gause, Jo

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Missouri, Kansas City

  Department of Civil Engineering
  5100 Rockhill Road, Flarsheim Hall
  Kansas City, MO  United States  64110
• Principal Investigators:

  Brown, Henry

• Start Date: 20220429
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Detection and identification technologies; Escape lanes; Heavy vehicles; Highway design; Information dissemination; State departments of transportation; State of the practice
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Design; Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01845327
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 20-05, Topic 54-13
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 16 2022 5:37PM