Details:

Creators:
Krupa, Cathy
Corporate Creators:
Cambridge Systematics
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Road work zones--New Jersey--Safety measures
Work Zones
Work Zone Safety

Publication/ Report Number:
NJ-2010-004
Resource Type:
Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:
New Jersey
OCLC Number:
729577832
Corporate Publisher:
New Jersey. Dept. of Transportation
NTL Classification:
NTL-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS ; NTL-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS-Traffic Control Devices ; NTL-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS-Traffic Flow ; NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Highway Safety ;
Abstract:
16. Abstract

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) commissioned a study to evaluate how

effective a work zone safety device known as the “SonoBlaster!® Work Zone Intrusion Alarm” would be

in protecting maintenance workers from injury caused by vehicles that breach the work zone, and how

well it would be accepted by workers. The device is mounted on a traffic cone and when impacted by a

vehicle, emits an alarm that provides advance warning to allow workers to react to avoid the intruding

vehicle. The device also alerts the driver who may be drowsy or distracted, who can respond by

braking or steering out of the work zone, or both actions.

In a pilot test of the device, SonoBlaster!®-equipped traffic cones were used with standard cones to

close a lane of traffic for maintenance work. Two impact simulations were performed resulting in

sounding of the alarm, as no impacts occurred from traveling vehicles. The alarm’s sound volume and

duration were satisfactory during normal traffic conditions for distances of at least 200 ft, including

when ear protection was worn, but no conclusion could be made about hearing the alarm during jack

hammer operations. Employees indicated that several set-up procedures were difficult. Moreover, in

multiple instances the alarm fired when the control knob was in the locked, unarmed position.

Additional field trials could not be scheduled. However, NJDOT believes that problems with quality

control and reliability, combined with the cost of the alarm, raise doubts about the desirability of and

benefits to be gained from deploying the device on NJDOT maintenance jobs.


Format:
PDF
Collection(s):
US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:e677734ab1b2702847e725cf6f2c29459dcec3e9fe198de4ba0f31c1bd219db8
File Type:

Supporting Files

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