Determining the Most Economical Work Zone Lengths for Rural Highway Rehabilitation Projects
Publication: Journal of Management in Engineering
Volume 39, Issue 2
Abstract
Despite the wealth of research that has sought to understand the effects of highway work zones, very little definitive information is available concerning the determination of work zone length (WZL) of rural highway rehabilitation projects. Despite its significant impact, adaptive models that holistically estimate reasonable WZLs are very rare. To fill this gap, this study first created a high-confidence data set through a series of scheduling and traffic simulations and subsequently identified critical factors affecting WZL through a descriptive factor analysis. Based on these data sets and findings, a novel decision support framework was developed to determine the most economical WZL in a balanced trade-off between motorists’ inconvenience level induced by traffic disruption and their opportunity cost. The practical applications of the WZL determination framework were then demonstrated through a systematic eight-step procedure, followed by an illustrative use case of an actual project. The results revealed that traffic loading and work zone duration are critical factors, with an important benchmarking point being traffic loading at approximately 41,000 vehicles per day. As the first of its kind, this study will help state transportation agencies devise sounder construction phasing plans by providing a means of establishing WZL that strikes a balance between travelers’ inconvenience and constructability.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research study was funded by the Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET) under the USDOT University Transportation Center Program. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance and cooperation of Tran-SET in formulating the scope of this research, especially Drs. Marwa Hassan and Husam Sadek for their tireless support. Their assistance was crucial to the successful completion of this research. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of Tran-SET.
References
Abdelmohsen, A. Z., and K. El-Rayes. 2018. “Optimizing the planning of highway work zones to maximize safety and mobility.” J. Manage. Eng. 34 (1): 04017048. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000570.
Borchardt, D. W., G. Pesti, D. Sun, and L. Ding. 2009. Capacity and road user cost analysis of selected freeway work zones in Texas. College Station, TX: Texas Transportation Institute.
Chien, S., and P. Schonfeld. 2001. “Optimal work zone lengths for four-lane highways.” J. Transp. Eng. 127 (2): 124–131. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2001)127:2(124).
Choi, J. 2020. “Road user costs for highway construction projects involving a lane closure.” Sustainability 12 (8): 3084. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083084.
Choi, K., J. Bae, and Y. H. Kwak. 2021. “OPTID: Optimal incentives and disincentives.” J. Manage. Eng. 37 (5): 04021054. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000946.
Choi, K., Y. H. Kwak, and B. Yu. 2010. “Quantitative model for determining incentive/disincentive amounts through schedule simulations.” In Proc., 2010 Winter Simulation Conf., 3295–3306. New York: IEEE.
Dell’Acqua, P., F. Bellotti, R. Berta, and A. De Gloria. 2015. “Time-aware multivariate nearest neighbor regression methods for traffic flow prediction.” IEEE Trans. Intell. Transp. Syst. 16 (6): 3393–3402. https://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2015.2453116.
Fei, L., H. B. Zhu, and X. L. Han. 2016. “Analysis of traffic congestion induced by the work zone.” Physica A 450 (May): 497–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2016.01.036.
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration). 2020. “Guide for highway capacity and operations analysis of active transportation and demand management strategies—Appendix D: Speed/capacity for work zones 2020.” Accessed May 29, 2020. https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13042/appd.htm.
France-Mensah, J., and W. J. O’Brien. 2019. “Developing a sustainable pavement management plan: Tradeoffs in road condition, user costs, and greenhouse gas emissions.” J. Manage. Eng. 35 (3): 04019005. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000686.
Huang, X., D. Shao, Q. Gong, and W. Zhu. 2018. “Simulation and optimization of traffic organization at highway reconstruction and extension area under the situation of large traffic volume.” In Proc., 17th COTA Int. Conf. of Transportation. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Jiang, X., and H. Adeli. 2003. “Freeway work zone traffic delay and cost optimization model.” J. Transp. Eng. 129 (3): 230–241. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2003)129:3(230).
Karim, A., and H. Adeli. 2003. “CBR model for freeway work zone traffic management.” J. Transp. Eng. 129 (2): 134–145. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2003)129:2(134).
Lasdon, L. S., R. L. Fox, and M. W. Ratner. 1974. “Nonlinear optimization using the generalized reduced gradient method.” Rev. Fr. d’Automatique Informatique Recherche Opérationnelle 8 (V3): 73–103. https://doi.org/10.1051/ro/197408V300731.
Lasdon, L. S., A. D. Waren, A. Jain, and M. W. Ratner. 1975. Design and testing of a generalized reduced gradient code for nonlinear optimization. Cleveland: Case Western Reserve Univ.
Le, C., M. Wai Yaw, H. David Jeong, and K. Choi. 2021. “Comprehensive evaluation of influential factors on public roadway project contract time.” J. Manage. Eng. 37 (5): 04021044. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000932.
Lee, E.-B., and N. Sivaneswaran. 2011. “CA4PRS: A design-traffic-construction integrating analysis tool highway renewal projects.” In Proc., 24th World Road Congress World Road Association (PIARC). Paris: World Road Association.
Martinelli, D. R., and D. Xu. 1996. “Delay estimation and optimal length for four-lane divided freeway workzones.” J. Transp. Eng. 122 (2): 114–122. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(1996)122:2(114).
Marzouk, M., and M. Fouad. 2014. “Simulation-based model for optimizing highways resurfacing operations.” Balt. J. Road Bridge Eng. 9 (1): 58–65. https://doi.org/10.3846/bjrbe.2014.08.
McCoy, P. T., L. M. Pang, and E. R. Post. 1980. “Optimum length of two-lane two-way no-passing traffic operation in construction and maintenance zones on rural four-lane divided highways.” Transp. Res. Rec. 773 (773): 20–24.
Meng, Q., and J. Weng. 2010. “Cellular automata model for work zone traffic.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2188 (1): 131–139. https://doi.org/10.3141/2188-14.
Pasha, A., A. Mansourian, and M. Ravanshadnia. 2021. “Evaluation of work zone road user cost of pavements based on rehabilitation strategy approach.” J. Transp. Eng. Part B Pavements 147 (2): 04021015. https://doi.org/10.1061/JPEODX.0000268.
Ramadan, O. E., and V. P. Sisiopiku. 2018. “Modeling Highway Performance under Various Short-Term Work Zone Configurations.” J. Transp. Eng. 144 (9): 04018050. https://doi.org/10.1061/JTEPBS.0000176.
Saha, P., R. Liu, C. Melson, and S. D. Boyles. 2014. “Network model for rural roadway tolling with pavement deterioration and repair.” Comput.-Aided Civ. Infrastruct. Eng. 29 (5): 315–329. https://doi.org/10.1111/mice.12057.
Sivak, M. 2021. “States with the highest and lowest truck traffic on interstate highways.” Accessed February 20, 2022. https://www.greencarcongress.com/2021/03/20210316-sivak.html.
TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation). 2018. Roadway inventory. Austin, TX: TxDOT.
TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation). 2020. “Value of delay time and road user costs.” Accessed July 30, 2020. https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cst/ruc2020.pdf.
USDOT. 2009. Manual on uniform traffic control devices; for streets and highways. Washington, DC: USDOT, Federal Highway Administration.
Watts, M. Y., W. C. Zech, R. E. Turochy, D. B. Holman, and J. J. LaMondia. 2012. “Effects of vehicle volume and lane closure length on construction road user costs in rural areas.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2268 (1): 3–11. https://doi.org/10.3141/2268-01.
Wunderlich, K., and D. Hardesty. 2002. A snapshot of work zone activity reported on state road closure and construction websites. Falls Church, VA: Mitretek Systems.
Yin, Y., K. Choi, H. D. Jeong, and A. Touran. 2022. “Integration of schedule, cost, traffic, and risk into the determination of construction contract times.” J. Manage. Eng. 38 (6): 04022061. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0001089.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Management in Engineering
Volume 39 • Issue 2 • March 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 28, 2022
Accepted: Sep 16, 2022
Published online: Nov 21, 2022
Published in print: Mar 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 21, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Business management
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Construction sites
- Continuum mechanics
- Dynamic loads
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Economic factors
- Engineering mechanics
- Highway and road management
- Highway transportation
- Highways and roads
- Infrastructure
- Practice and Profession
- Project management
- Solid mechanics
- Structural dynamics
- Traffic analysis
- Traffic engineering
- Traffic management
- Transportation engineering
- Vehicle loads
- Work zones
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.