Some Questions on the Accuracy of Safety Effectiveness Evaluations
The generally positive benefits of safety improvements, and, in particular, upgraded traffic control devices, are well-established. More difficult is the explicit rank-ordering of traffic...
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Highway Safety Improvements
The need exists for better information relative to the effectiveness of various safety treatments and actions. Reliable measures of effectiveness are required for determining the most...
Roadside Design in the Future
Since the first roadways were built, highway designers have constantly been striving to ensure that motorists can travel to their destinations on safe highways. However, their efforts...
Effects of Shoulder Reductions on Highway Safety
In order to accomodate existing traffic and projected growth, it is essential that the most effective use be made of the limited right-of-way available for freeways. It is important to...
Effects of Lane Width Reduction on Safety and Flow
This research dealt with the issue of lane narrowing as an alternative to pavement widening in providing safety improvements on urban freeways. This study dealt with I-95 in Miami Florida...
Selection of Performance Levels for Longitudinal Barriers
There is a demand within the highway community for multi-service level safety features, including traffic barriers. The need has become more acute in recent years as revenues decline and...
Transitioning End Terminal A TRENDtm for the Future
The highway engineer frequently starts from a position where an identified highway element is causing serious injuries or fatalities to motorists on the nation's highways....
End Treatments for Deep Beam Highway Guardrail
End treatments on highway guardrail serve two functions: (1) to make the end safe in case of an impact there, and (2) to provide anchorage in case of an impact adjacent to the end. Two...
Hazardous Events After Redirectional Collisions
The potential for hazardous events occurring to vehicle occupants after a redirection from a longitudinal barrier has not been adequately addressed. Very few studies are available which...
Occupant Risk in Longitudinal Barrier Collisions
The following paper presents data derived from sled test experiments, full-scale vehicle crash tests as well as an in-depth analysis of accident data which suggest that occupants are not...
What to Do When a Failure Occurs
When a major building problem involving structural failure occurs, action should begin immediately to determine the damage or failure and detect the underlying problem. This paper will...
Arbitration: A Risky Method for Resolving Disputes
Arbitration has been widely praised as a speedy, 'inexpensive' alternative to litigation for resolving a wide range of disputes, including disputes arising from...
An Historical Perspective of Failures of Civil Engineering Works
The blight of failures has smitten civil engineering works since ancient times. An examination of historic cases reveals relationships to contemporary cases that are useful in guiding...
Failure Classifications
A detailed description of the failure classification with respect to the constructed facilities is presented. Author is of the opinion that most reports of failure even of an extensive...
Data Collection and Information Dissemination: Current Efforts and Challenges
The need for the civil engineering community to collect and disseminate information on failures has been discussed widely. It appears that in recent years our profession's reluctance to...
Quality Assurance/Quality Control: Alternative Approaches to Reduce Failures
Efforts to achieve quality on construction projects usually center around code-compliant design, thorough specifications, and careful inspection. The alarming increase in both the frequency...
Seismic Resistance of an Elevated Water Tank?A Case Study
Current knowledge of earthquake risk and structural response has raised concern about the safety of elevated water storage tanks which were constructed several decades ago. This paper...
Seismic Risk Assessment for a Utility System
Presented is a procedure by which a utility could develop the probabilities for different levels of capital loss exposure for its system. The procedure relies on experience data obtained...
Seismic Risk Analysis of LNG Storage Tanks
This paper presents an approach to the seismic safety review of existing LNG storage tanks. The approach considers the seismic hazards from ground motion, surface fault rupture, and soil...
A Case Study of the Behavior of Seaport Facilities During the 1978 Miyagi-Ken-Oki Earthquake
This paper assesses seismic response characteristics of seaport facilities during the 1978 Miyagi-Ken-Oki earthquake by (a) compiling and assessing documented information from post-earthquake...
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