1. Modernisation and Safety Improvements of the Road Network in Ukraine
TA2015013 UA EST
Major Road Safety Faults in Road
Construction
(including construction sites)
BASIC ROAD SAFETY TRAINING COURSE
Kiev, Ukraine, 16 – 17 March 2017
Speaker: Kostiantyn Shcherbachenko
2. Table of Contents
1. Health and Safety
2. Technical Facilities
3. Signalisation
4. Road Marking
5. Temporary Restraint Systems
6. Fencing of Construction Sites
7. Safe Traffic Conditions for All Road Users
8. Configuration of Road Safety Inspectors’ Vehicles
9. Standards and Norms
10. Personal Involvement
3. Health and Safety
Any associated person stepping on road surface should obligatory wear a high-
visibility jacket and a helmet, despite their rank and involvement in road sphere. It
should concern everyone, starting from road workers, foremen, reporters, and
finishing with government officials and the President.
Due to a high-visibility jacket, a person becomes more visible on site in any weather
conditions, at any time of the day and season, thus drawing drivers’ attention and
making them react accordingly – by decelerating and bypassing the construction
site.
When compared with a jacket, a helmet is not a common thing one can observe on
road construction sites. You would be fortunate to see a person wearing a helmet
at structure/bridge construction sites.
5. Signalisation
When speaking about temporary traffic management, faults associated with
signalisation as follows are not a rare case to see on site:
1. Old signs with another pattern are commonly used. Being lit by headlights at
dark hours, drivers can see the old pattern which confuses them.
2. Old signs with no reflective capacity are used. As such, at night hours their
visibility is poor.
3. Direction, position, or indication signs are removed over the course of
construction, making drivers confused. When Signs 5.45 – 5.48 are removed,
drivers do not have time for decelerating to the advisory speed in residential
areas.
4. Whilst traffic flow is ensured on one of the carriageways and works are
undertaken on the other, Direction, position, or indication signs remain at a
considerable distance away from traffic lanes. As such, drivers are not timely
informed about turning locations, especially at reorganisation of signalisation
over the course of temporary traffic management.
5. Unsatisfactory condition of signalisation should be emphasised as well.
13. Road Marking
When speaking about temporary traffic management, faults associated with road
marking as follows are not a rare case to see on site:
1. Over the course of capital repair or reconstruction works on 1st class roads, the
Contractor uses the same locations as traffic diversions in order to organise transit
traffic flow.
When Traffic Management Plans are modified, old road marking undergoes
painting over, whilst new marking is striped over the existing one.
The above results in excessive so called ‘marking web’ that hinders drivers’ uptake
of vital information, and also may cause traffic accidents. It becomes especially
detrimental when long-term used, while the ‘newer’ marking becomes erased, and
the ‘older’ marking gains visibility.
Application of conspicuity tape as temporary marking is not an obligation.
2. No road marking appears on pedestrian crossings. It is rather often the case
when it is striped over the wearing course just before the project being
commissioned.
18. Temporary Restraint Systems
Concrete blocks are commonly used as temporary restraint systems. We often
experience two problematic issues associated with their use as follows:
1. When undertaking construction activities on long sections, the Contractor
often finds himself in a lack of concrete blocks to be placed as a restraint
system along the whole section. This procedure is required by the existing
conditions (high fills, cuts and excavation for foundation pits);
2. As per SOU 45.2-00018112-006:2006 ‘Restraint Systems and Traffic
Management on Road Construction, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and
Maintenance Sites’, concrete blocks shall be joined by means of continuous
steel wire. Unfortunately, steel wires often become subject to theft.
20. Temporary Restraint Systems
Barricade/warning tapes and signal cords belong to another type of restraint
systems used at roadworks construction sites. Eventually one can observe a rope
with discrete areas of warning tapes fixed on it. These appliances are affixed
against entering into a lane, exiting from adjacent roads, streets, motorway service
areas, as well as along the shoulder and central reservation with the purpose of
directing traffic.
We do not find these measures to be efficient, since a rope becomes torn by
vehicles, wind force, and passers-by. Further, it may be detrimental to cyclists and
motorcyclists.
We propose more efficient appliances, such as road barriers and delineators. As
such, delineators are a useful tool for directing traffic by means of temporary
islands at junctions/intersections.
22. Fencing of Construction Sites
It should be noted that we find fencing of construction sites to be insufficient,
especially when activities are undertaken on the mainline under traffic. Contractor’s
brigades appear on site without the required traffic management facilities.
Moreover, those facilities that have been installed are not kept under control. As
such, they may be located:
- in the immediate vicinity to the construction site, thus giving almost no time for
drivers to decelerate or manoeuver;
- at a substantial distance from the construction site. For instance, road barriers
and other facilities that have been erected at the beginning of the working shift
remain on the same location, despite the ongoing construction process. As such,
a driver bypasses the construction site with all precautions, without noticing the
real situation he again starts accelerating.
Flashing red lights do not function at dark hours and in foggy weather.
24. Fencing of Construction Sites
No flashing lights in foggy weather. Mud accumulation on the mainline.
Turnaround against the Traffic Code
25. Safe Traffic Conditions for All Road Users
Normally, temporary traffic management provides for transit traffic flow. However,
it provokes negligence towards other road users, mainly pedestrians.
Commonly, pedestrians’ appeals concern the issues as follows:
- temporary bus bays (signalisation, stopping bays along the central reservation,
pick up and drop off points);
- temporary pedestrian crossings;
- temporary sidewalks and crossovers.
27. Configuration of Road Safety Inspectors’ Vehicles
RSI’s vehicles should be configured with minimum required traffic management
appliances as follows:
- signal cones;
- warning tape.
It is also desirable that the vehicle be configured with a yellow flash beacon.
With these appliances, Road Safety Inspector will be able to fence an accident
scene and to temporarily divert traffic, if necessary.
29. Standards and Norms
Regulative documents associated with traffic management over the course of road
construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation and other matters presented
likewise requires amendments and modifications to be made. Ukrainian SOU 45.2-
00018112-006:2006 ‘Restraint Systems and Traffic Management on Road
Construction, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Maintenance Sites’ appears to be
among a few documents administering Traffic Management activities.
By way of contrast:
Ukrainian standard SOU 45.2-00018112-006:2006 comprises 34 pages and 30
schemes.
UK standard ‘Traffic Safety Measures and Signs for Road Works and Temporary
Situations’ comprises 730 pages and more than 100 schemes.
30. Standards and Norms
British standard ‘Traffic Safety Measures and Signs for Road Works and
Temporary Situations’
31. Standards and Norms
Under the Ukrainian standard SOU 45.2-00018112-006:2006 , over the course of
reconstruction/capital repair works on 1st class roads, the minimum length of the
crossover via the central reservation amounts to 60 m.
While pursuant to the British standard ‘Traffic Safety Measures and Signs for Road
Works and Temporary Situations’, the crossover length is dependant on the
mandatory speed limit and site conditions, such as cross section, adverse camber,
superelevation, etc. At temporary mandatory speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h), the
minimum crossover length amounts to 90 m, whilst at temporary mandatory speed
limit of 50 mph (80 km/h), the maximum crossover length amounts to 297 m.
32. Standards and Norms
British standard ‘Traffic Safety
Measures and Signs for Road Works
and Temporary Situations’
Ukrainian standard SOU 45.2-
00018112-006:2006
33. Personal Involvement
Indifference kills.
It is essential that every party to a construction project (the Contractor, Consultant
and Client) should treat road safety as a priority. Living under the motto ‘NMP (Not
My Problem’) will not lead to a safer road situation.
Therefore, instead of passing by, please stop and
- lift those temporary road signs and other traffic management equipment that
have fallen due to strong wind force or due to being hit by a vehicle;
- remove broken branches or refuse that have fallen out of a vehicle to the
mainline, thus blocking the traffic.
