Guidelines for Use of Rumble Strips

Details

• Creators:
  Sutton, Carrie ; Wray, Warren K.
• Corporate Creators:
  Texas Tech University. Dept. of Civil Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  Texas Department of Transportation
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Construction Design Methods Design Standards Field Studies Guidelines Intersections Literature Reviews Pavements Rumble Strips Traffic Noise Traffic Speed Warning Devices

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  1466
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Texas ; United States
• Edition:
  Draft - September 1994 thru August 1995
• Corporate Publisher:
  Texas Tech University. College of Engineering
• Abstract:
  The study collected information on rumble strip design installation, and maintenance practices and experiences in Texas DOT Districts and 34 other state DOTs. Evaluation of other state DOT experiences and the technical literature resulted in recommended designs for rumble strips on the shoulder and in the travel lane. The treatments recommended for the shoulder to alert weary drivers are, in order of preference, a milled groove on 305 mm (12 in.) centers, a rolled-in groove on 200 to 230 mm (8 to 9 in.) centers, and 100 mm (4 In.) traffic buttons parallel to the travel lane on 1500 mm (5 ft) centers. It is recommended that rumble strips in the travel lane only be considered at locations. where all other traffic control or warning devices have been employed and found to be insufficiently effective at reducing accidents. The design recommended consists of 3 approach rumble strip pads separated at specified distances, each pad consisting of 24 grooves. Four alternative installation standards are recommended which present different methods for extending the groove across the lane(s) and shoulder. These alternatives are presented as options that may be tried in an effort to accommodate 2-wheel vehicles and familiar drivers by allowing them to avoid traversing the rumble strips. Traffic observations and speed data were collected from 3 field test installations prior to, immediately following, and 4 to 6 months after construction. Comparison of before and after speeds showed a numerical reduction in approach. However, analysis of the data revealed no statistically significant reduction in speed approaching intersections as a result of installing the rumble strip pads speeds. Measurements of noise created by vehicles traversing rumble strips made adjacent to the pads and at various distances away from the installation revealed that a minimum of 60 m is necessary for noise level to return to level comparable to that made by vehicles not traversing rumble strips.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  0-1466
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cb8e16e4755b0cca33034f8fca7451f0d2e16149e296e416c248f33a074dd23e19e7875eebca6713b1a5ba598c48098e917cc4e4827461cc56f1a5e6916f38f6
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/86259/dot_86259_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 65.79 MB ]