TRF - 2014

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://192.248.9.226/handle/123/17951

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item: Conference-Abstract
Animal collision induced road accidents in the Southern Expressway
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa., 2014-08) Mayadunnage, S; Colombage, SS; Weerakoon, DK; Mampearachchi, WK; Pasindu, HR
Declaring open the Southern expressway in November 2011 marks a major milestone of the future road network development in Sri Lanka. Ensuring road safety is one of the key considerations during the operational phase of an expressway as vehicles travel at a much faster rate, which will increase the probability of road accidents. During the period, November 2011 to December 2013, 1023 road accidents have taken place in the Southern Expressway. Out of these, 20% have resulted due to animal-vehicle collision. Animal-vehicle collisions could result in property damage, personal injury or fatalities to the commuter. This study was undertaken to analyze temporal and spatial patterns of animal induced road accidents reported in the southern expressway that would inform development of mitigation measures to reduce the incidence of road accidents caused by animal collision. Accident reports available for animal collision related road accidents during the period, December 2011 to December 2013 was collected and analyzed to identify animal collision patterns. During this period 173 road accidents have taken place. Out of these 172 accidents only involved only a single vehicle while one of the incidents involved two vehicles. Further, 98% of the incidents (169) resulted only property damages while the remaining four incidents have resulted in injury to the 10 commuters. During the study period no fatalities have resulted due to accidents due to animal collisions. There was no significant difference between the incidence of road accidents resulting due to animal collisions reported in the Galle bound section (87 incidents) compared to Colombo bound section (86 incidents) of the highway. The rate of accidents resulting due to animal collisions has reduced by 11% during the second year of operation compared to the first year. Animal collision rates fluctuated over time with highs in April and July and lows during March and May. The highest number of incidents was reported in the stretch between 80 and 90 km followed by 21 to 30 km stretch. Out of the 173 accidents recorded, 70% (121 incidents) have resulted due to collision with dogs followed by pigs (20 incidents), birds (20 incidents) monkeys (7 incidents). Out of the 20 accidents reported due to bird collision 13 have resulted due to Peacocks. Other animals that have resulted in accidents include land monitors, buffaloes, goats, porcupines and foxes which have all contributed less than 5% of the incidents. The road accidents resulting due to collision with dogs have undergone a 33% reduction during the second year of operation compared to the first year. Out of the 173 animal collision related road accidents reported 74% involved motor cars followed by vans (11%), jeeps (8%), cabs (5%), busses (1%) and lorries (1%), indicating smaller vehicles are more susceptible for animal collision related road accidents. Out of the reported animal related road accidents 58% have occurred during day time and 87% of these accidents have occurred on sunny days while the rest on rainy days. Further 83% of the animal related road accidents have taken place on clear days compared to 13% that have occurred during rainy days. Therefore, lack of visibility or whether condition may have not contributed to animal related road accidents. This study indicates that animal related road accidents show clear spatial and temporal patterns that can be used to develop mitigation measures in the future.
item: Conference-Abstract
Determination of longitudinal and lateral friction standards for Sri Lankan roads
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa., 2014-08) Thanenjeyan, S; Pasindu, HR; Mampearachchi, WK; Pasindu, HR
In recent years, Srilanka has an unprecedented scale of adding new roads and expressways through funding from various foreign agencies. During last few years, more than 4500 km length of ‘A’ and ‘B’class has already been improved and open to public. With the improvement of roads, the exposure to accidents appears to be significant. Though appropriate methods are adopted during the design stage to ensure the road safety and due considerations were taken during the construction stages, it is wondering some significant accidents are taking place and it may be purely because of the nature of the new road for road users. Pavement friction design is one of the key elements required for ensuring highway safety. The longitudinal as well as lateral friction determines the functional performance of the roads. The geometric design is carried out in Srilanka is based on Austroads, AASHTO publications and the guideline of RDA publication in the year of 1998, which is also prepared based on Austroads and AASHTO publications. It is a timely decision in local context to test the applicability of these parameters and to find out any variations and to provide recommendations. The outcome from this research will be very useful in the geometric design of highway, Pavement Management and construction techniques. An extensive literature review was carried out and based on the methodology and guidelines cited and it is experimented in local roads for dry and critical wet conditions. The information provided, will serve as the basis for many of the guidelines and recommendations. Most importantly, it presents information on a) Coefficient of longitudinal friction for asphalt b) the design of highway improvements with the longitudinal and lateral friction.
item: Conference-Abstract
Development of a system for rating of hazardous locations along national highways
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa., 2014-08) Tharmini, K; Mampearachchi, WK; Bandara, JMSJ; Pasindu, HR
In highway safety plan; identification of hazardous locations on highways is one of the most important factors. In this study the geometric of road is considered to identify the hazardous locations with the concern of design standards of Road Development Authority, Sri Lanka. Availability of accident data is a significant requirement for identifying hazardous location of roads. However, for roads with poor accident data sets or no accident records, a method is needed to find and rank road segments with respect to road geometry independent of the accident records. In this study, initially hazardous locations or section of roads were identified based on Geometric Design Standards of Roads published by Road Development Authority on 1998. Then major parameters of road geometry such as horizontal alignment, vertical profile and road side activities and combination of these; are considered as main influence elements and identified the venerable factors of the each element. After that the relative contribution of the elements to the safety of critical location or road sections was determined by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with a system of scores which were suggested by an expert panel. Subject to a consistency test of the expert responses, AHP determines the weight of the elements. On which the horizontal radius is identified as most critical parameter of the geometry element, to induce accident prone hazardous location followed by long straight section or series of curves with small straight section with influence of the site condition.
item: Conference-Abstract
Development of guidelines to improve the transport infrastructure to address the mobility of blind and visually impaired people of Sri Lanka
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa., 2014-08) Ranasinghe, RAMC; Mampearachchi, WK; Pasindu, HR
Sight loss can affect a person’s independence more than any disability. Unsurprisingly many people who lose their sight never go out unaccompanied after facing difficulties they encounter by going to various places by themselves. These difficulties are very often magnified in the absence of facilities for them in the society. By introducing facilities on road infrastructure and public transport can substantially transform the livelihoods of blind and visually impaired people and their families. Lack of accessibility and mobility will discourage this sector of society in finding employment, gain access to education and health services and also will limit their social and recreational activities. Therefore these people should be able to travel independently within their locality or in urban and suburban areas at least for their urgent needs using public transport. Therefore study of the need of blind and visually impaired people is an urgent requirement. Initially local and international guidelines, publications and literature were reviewed. It was noticed that international guidelines cannot be directly applied to local environment, since the road infrastructure and transport systems are different from those in developed countries. There were situations where guidelines given in one country is different from the other. Those details and positive and negative outcomes of previous studies were taken for the case study. Based on the outcome of the case study, An opinion survey was done for sample of blind and visually impaired people to identify their issues and get their feedback and suggestions and clarify issues noticed during the case study. On the outcomes of opinion survey solution options were developed for questionnaire in order to identify their preferred option. Finally a mobility expert trainer was interviewed. Outcome of the study revealed how barrier free environment can be created on road infrastructure, bus transport and by tactile tactile paving. It is very important to maintain the consistency everywhere. Therefore three guidelines; (1) road infrastructure, (2) bus transport and (3) tactile paving were developed as a part of this study to suite local road environment. The guideline for road infrastructure provides guidance for planning, dealing with obstructions on footwalk, kerb ramps safety measures, provision of resting facilities, information signs, colour contrasts etc. The guideline for bus transport provides information for bus stops, bus shelter, boarding area, seat reservations, payment methods, information signs, discipline of driver and conductor etc. This guides places where tactile paving is necessary, warning and directional tiles, selection of colour contrast, background paving, paving at road crossings, bus stops etc. Guidelines developed under this project will create a barrier free environment and help blind and visually impaired people to be more independent.
item: Conference-Abstract
Development of thermally comfortable paving block arrangement for pedestrian walkways
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa., 2014-08) Hettiarachchi, HACK; Mampearachchi, WK; Pasindu, HR
Interlocking concrete block pavements are used to pave walkways, parking lots, roadside pavements, open spaces, religious places etc. where people used to walk. The pavements are subjected to heavy thermal loads during day time in tropical countries like Sri Lanka. Surface temperature of these pavements rise up to more than 50 degrees of Celsius during daytime. Maintaining surface temperature at a comfortable level is one of the key challenges that modern block pavers are facing. To reduce the effect of temperature rise and maintain the thermal comfort, the behavior of the ICBP under different conditions need to be analyzed. Thermal behavior of interlocking concrete block pavement is mainly governed by the solar radiation. When the pavement is exposed to solar radiation the block gets heated. Several factors such as heat capacity, convection film coefficient, heat conductivity directly affect the temperature of the ICBP. A finite element model was developed to predict the thermal behavior of the ICBP and the model was validated using obtained experimental data. The verified model was used to predict the thermal behavior of different arrangements. Simulation was done changing the physic of the block and also changing the laying arrangement of the block. When the simulation was done for different conditions it is observed that,  Increasing the gap does not affect significantly in reducing temperature  Leaving the gap with air can reduce the temperature  Block with vertical holes can be effectively used to reduce the temperature of top surface on pedestrian pavements.  Change in the block size can be used effectively to reduce the surface temperature Combination of above mentioned parameters were also simulated and the temperature reduction of selected combination was observed.
item: Conference-Abstract
Effectiveness of resettlement approach of road development authority to ensure social justification for affected people: case study on Colombo - Katunayake Expressway
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, 2014-08) Liyanage, LS; Samarajeewa, WB; Bandara, SNMW; Gamathige, A; Mampearachchi, WK; Pasindu, HR
The development of roads improve the connectivity, reduce regional disparity, open up new markets, generate employment opportunities and thereby bring benefits to majority of the population reducing poverty. However, some people are becoming affected by the negative consequences of these projects. With the introduction of expressways, the population affected by road development has increased during the last decade. The main responsibility of resettling these affected people lies with the executing agency of the project as per the legal framework of Sri Lanka. Road Development Authority (RDA) has carried out resettlement planning for projects during last decade. In carrying out resettlement RDA has taken initiative for many projects like Baseline Project, Outer Circular Highway (OCH) and Southern Transport Development Project (STDP). This study mainly focused on the Colombo Katunayake Expressway (CKE). The study involved household survey, case studies and key informant interviews as primary data collection methods along with secondary data. The land acquisition for the project was started in 1999. Two resettlement sites namely Wanawasala and Meegahawatta were developed for affected people in the Kelaniya Divisional Secretary area by the project. The findings of the case study reveal that housing conditions of the affected people have a positive increase over the past years. However, the re-settlers claim that they have not received title deeds for the land plots in resettlement sites and they have issues in finding schools for children.
item: Conference-Abstract
Identify possible reasons for accident occurred in Southern Expressway
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa., 2014-08) Chinthanie, RPD; Mampearachchi, WK; Pasindu, HR
Southern Expressway, the first ever access controlled expressway in Sri Lanka was started to function in year 2011.Total road length from Kottawa to Pinnaduwa is 126 km and there are eleven interchanges within that length. Government of Sri Lanka is expecting lots of benefits through this expressway. Safety consideration is essential in any of the road project. Even though there is several safety precautions are provided, about 1100 number of accidents have been reported up to now. Since “expressways“ is a new topic for Sri Lanka , perception about it will be bad due to this and discourage the road users. Therefore identifying possible reasons for the accidents and accident prone locations is essential to provide immediate safety improvements. Main objectives of this research are identifying accident prone locations, identifying possible reasons for the accidents and calculate the accident rate based on the vehicle travel kilometre. It could be identified the nine number of most critical accident prone locations and by detail analysis of those prone locations found out the possible reasons for the accidents. In addition to that since the traffic data is reported daily it could be find out the accident rate based on the accident travel kilometre which is more accurate than other methods to calculate accident rate. Road user and the road environment are the two key factors contributed for the accidents based on the accident data of the Southern Expressway collected from the Road Development Authority and Sri Lanka Police. Since it is very difficult to carryout accurate analysis for the contribution of road user with the recoded accident data, this study was mainly targeted on the second important factor, road Environment to the accidents. According to the analysis it could be concluded as there is a higher possibility to occur accidents during rainy weather under the slippery road condition. In addition, driver fatigue was identified as a contributory factor for accidents of long distance travellers (travelling distance is more than 40 km).
item: Conference-Abstract
Review of roundabout design parameters and development of a roundabout design guideline for Sri Lanka
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa., 2014-08) Ekanayake, EMCB; Mampearachchi, WK; Pasindu, HR
Sri Lanka has been thriving through rapid development process with the ending of the civil conflict. Currently people of Sri Lanka are experiencing a local industrial revolution especially in highway and transportation sector. Increase of accessibility and mobility has led to more trip generation and attraction. Adequate traffic control measures are a timely need in Sri Lanka to develop effective transportation system. Roundabouts are frequently used in urban areas in Sri Lanka where considerable amount of traffic move across a junction to function the traffic controlling effectively. However there is no proper guideline to design roundabouts in Sri Lanka. Increasing traffic and use of long vehicles resulted in malfunctioning some of the roundabouts. Geometry of roundabout has great influence on operation of the roundabouts. Main objectives of the study are to review the roundabout design guidelines and identify the issues in existing roundabouts. The other objective of this study is to formulate a roundabout design guideline for Sri Lanka. Five major design guidelines were considered to compare the design parameters of roundabout geometry. Twenty three number of roundabouts spread over major cities were considered for study. Main geometric parameters of each roundabouts were collected using Satellite images calibrated and validated using field measurements. Parameters of local roundabouts have been analysed with the standards of international Roundabout guidelines. Swept path analysis was carried out on selected roundabout layout for single unit truck to determine the adequacy of entry width, circulation width, exit width and operational speed. Design parameters that need to be improved on existing roundabout will be identified and suitable values for selected design parameters will be proposed.

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