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A review to determine the need, location, and design of runaway lanes in British Columbia

University of British Columbia

British Columbia's steep mountain highways require runaway lanes to assist heavy vehicles if they lose control. Runaway lanes, or speed control lanes have been implemented in Canadian and American highways for over 40 years. They are used in mountainous regions as a primary tool to minimize the risk and consequences of heavy vehicle runaway accidents. Insufficient vehicle and brake maintenance, improper use of brake check faculties prior to descending steep grades, excessive descent speeds and/or relying primarily on the service brakes to control speed on downgrades leading to excessive brake heating results in a loss of brake capacity. Also, the lack of knowledge of the highway terrain to be encountered contributes to a condition where the driver has insufficient brake capacity to reduce vehicle speed for the road terrain being encountered. Runaway lanes are therefore placed at various locations along steep and/or lengthy downgrades where drivers can utilize them soon after realizing that a potential runaway situation exists. A comprehensive review of previous work relating to runaway lane design was conducted. Full scale tests of several runaway lane designs currently existing in British Columbia were carried out to identify any design deficiencies. In addition, a brake temperature model was evaluated and modified to reflect the eight axle truck configurations existing in British Columbia to devise a simple runaway lane warrant. The final outcome of the research concluded that the arrestor bed type runaway lane is the most suitable for safely stopping the different truck configurations currently existing in British Columbia. In addition, a simple runaway lane warrant based on brake fade temperature was devised and calibrated for an eight axle B-train truck configuration.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-02-11

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/4474

Civil Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace