Gravel road paving guidelines.

Details

• Creators:
  Dissanayake, Sunanda ; Patel, Himanshu S.
• Corporate Creators:
  Kansas State University. Transportation Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  Kansas. Dept. of Transportation. Bureau of Research
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Paving
  • Gravel roads
  • Pavements
  • Gravel Road
  • Paved Road
  • Roadway Surface Type
  • Paving
  • Multi-Criteria Assessment
• Publication/ Report Number:
  Report No. K-TRAN: KSU-14-1
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Kansas. Dept. of Transportation. Bureau of Research
• Abstract:
  The percentage of gravel roads in rural areas in Kansas is higher than most states. A wide variation of traffic volumes ; across different regions and variations of local conditions and scenarios present a great challenge for local agencies to determine ; the suitable roadway surface type for local rural roads, especially considering constraints on transportation budgets. The primary ; objective of this research was developing specific guidelines to identify the most suitable roadway surface (gravel vs. paved) for a ; particular roadway section with given conditions. Surveys were carried out to determine the importance of factors affecting the ; selection of a roadway surface type, which were later used for guideline development. ; General guidelines were developed using the multi-criteria assessment method in order to fulfill the objectives in this ; study. The key factors in decision-making in regards to paving were identified as agency cost, safety, vehicle operating cost ; (VOC), traffic volume, purpose of road usage, and public preference. Multi-criteria assessment method involves calculating the ; weights for the factors important in decision-making, obtaining respective scaled values for each factor for paved and gravel ; surfaces, and eventually calculating the final score for paved and gravel surface type. Equations were formulated to carry out lifecycle ; cost (LCC) analysis along with the present worth evaluation, which provided flexibility to calculate agency cost by ; considering local conditions. VOC could be calculated for paved and gravel roads considering variations in the speeds of different ; classes of vehicles, gradient and horizontal curvature of the road, and the conversion factor for cost on paved surface versus gravel ; surface. Safety analysis was carried out for local rural roads in Kansas for 5 years, from 2010 to 2014, using the Kansas ; Department of Transportation’s Kansas Crash Analysis and Reporting System (KCARS) database. After calculating the equivalent ; property damage only (EPDO) crash rates on paved and gravel roads in Kansas, results showed that paved surfaces were in general ; safer than gravel surfaces, which was taken into consideration while calculating the scaled values for safety. The final score is ; calculated by multiplying the weights of each factor and their respective scaled values. The roadway surface type with a higher ; score is the preferred alternative for a road section under consideration. ; A computer-based Gravel Road Paving Guidelines Program was created as a user interface, using Visual Studio to carry ; out all complex calculations for determining LCC and VOC considering local variations. The program also helped determine final ; total scores for paved and gravel roads by considering scaled values of all important factors considered for conversion. Another ; approach using cost versus traffic volume showed that the break-even point for traffic volume decreased with an increased ; percentage of trucks and increased vehicle speeds. Developed guidelines help determine the best roadway surface type for any set ; of local conditions. The Gravel Road Paving Guidelines Program is available upon request to KDOT#Research.Library@ks.gov.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/31611/dot_31611_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.40 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:31f27816b60aec1709dd4fc8fe9211cbc5b740af6335cbc0f3548d10ab1a86a358021a3998ddb2a9d6ff01acb93ddba4cd00b4f52c10853eaccecd6ad59987e5