Methodology for Traffic Safety Audit and Inspection of Bridges

Eshetu, Tegegne (2011) Methodology for Traffic Safety Audit and Inspection of Bridges. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

Bridges are structures including supports erected over a depression or an obstruction for carrying traffic and other moving loads. They are crucial elements of the road design elements and transportation infrastructure. There are around 3,100 bridges registered in Ethiopia in Bridge Management System. Although a considerable research has been carried out on Traffic safety on highways and Road Safety Audit as a whole, very little work has been done on traffic safety Audit and Inspection of bridges. Most of the inspections of bridges concentrate on the structural defects of bridges leaving the safety aspect of the bridge and approach roadway as a secondary concern. Bridges and bridge approaches have been identified as one of the leading locations for severe, single-vehicle crashes. There are many bridges and culverts on the highway system in different parts of Ethiopia. Most of the bridges have rigid rails and often span a potentially hazardous feature. This thesis presented a methodology for traffic safety audit and inspection of bridges. Checklists were prepared for each stage of design starting from planning stage through construction stage so that safety elements aren’t overlooked by the designer. The checklist incorporates important safety features to be checked such as, the adequacy of bridge width, the adequacy of pedestrian width, the application of constant width for the approach roadway as well as bridge, adverse geometric alignment at the bridge approach roadways, and the incorporation of crashworthy transitions, approach guardrail and end treatments. Sample projects which are found at different stages of design were selected for an implementation exercise. As part of this thesis, bridge safety inspection sheet was developed for the safety inspection of existing bridges. It was assumed that the results will create awareness to most bridge engineers who deal with the structural assessment of existing bridges. Bridges located on Modjo – Awassa road were used for developing the bridge safety inspection sheets. None of these bridges has end treatments, approach guardrail and transition section. The major defects noted include, cross section constriction, poor approach alignment, sight distance constraints and high fill heights without safety barrier on the approaches. Inspection procedures and data sheets are prepared based on intensive literature review and field inspection of existing bridges. Bridge engineers and inspectors are advised to use the developed safety inspection sheet as part of their routine structural inspection of existing bridges.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Civil Engineering
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications T Technology > T Technology (General) T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) T Technology > TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements T Technology > TG Bridge engineering
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Andriamparany Edilbert RANOARIVONY
Date Deposited:	29 Nov 2018 10:26
Last Modified:	29 Nov 2018 10:26
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/7991

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