Abstract:
The safe and efficient flow of traffic through work zones is a major concern to transportation
officials (government authorities, contractors), the public, businesses, and road users. Key
areas for performance measures of work zones include delay/queues, user costs, exposure,
safety, and public perception.
This paper presents an investigation on current work-zone practices in Highway
rehabilitation projects around Colombo and sub-urbs. The prevailing guidelines adopted in
Sri Lanka were compared with the guidelines and manuals of USA, Canada and Ireland for
the major differences. Five (05) road rehabilitation projects have been identified out of which
four (04) currently being ongoing, and the remainder is being recently completed. Separate
questionnaire surveys were carried out on Road Users, Nearby Residents, and Contractor’s
representatives to identify the major difficulties and inconveniences borne by the road users
and residents and the probable reasons. The major issues identified are; Dust and Noise
pollution, Lack of advanced signage, Increment in travel time, Access and utility
disturbances, and Drainage issues. The root causes identified are; Lack of focus on
guidelines, Non availability of experienced and qualified officers, Lack of space, Higher traffic
volume throughout the day, and Political, Police and public interferences. With the reference
with the guidelines of other countries, some alterations to the prevailing RDA guidelines are
suggested at the conclusion.
Citation:
Mettananda, T.M.M.B., & Pasindu, H.R. (2015). Study on work zone management in highway rehabilitation projects in urban areas [Abstract]. In H.R. Pasindu (Ed.), Proceedings of the Transportation Research Forum 2015 (p. 26). Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa. https://uom.lk/sites/default/files/civil/files/TRF%202015_0.pdf