Key Laboratory for Special Area Highway Engineering of Ministry of Education, Chang'an University, Xi'an, 710064, Shaanxi, China; Engineering Research Center of Highway Infrastructure Digitalization, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, 710000, Shaanxi, China.
College of Transportation Engineering, Chang'an University, Xi'an, 710064, Shaanxi, China.
Accid Anal Prev. 2021 Jul;157:106172. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2021.106172. Epub 2021 May 10.
Highways play an important role in China's economic development, especially in mountainous regions. In reality, design of mountainous highways can be a challenging task due to complex geological and topographic conditions. From the safety perspective, it is also important that road geometric design defects and potential accident blind spots can be reasonably identified from the design. To this end, this study formulated an innovative Geographic Information System (GIS)-based geometric design quality assessment model for mountain highways. First, a fault tree analysis (FTA) was conducted to identify a series of highway design risk factors. Second, a decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique was employed to derive the factors' weight and sensitivity. Third, road driving suitability, traffic safety sensitivity, design risk factors, and effective distance were taken into account to formulate a design quality assessment model. Forth, two case studies based on a mountainous highway located in southwest China were conducted to validate this model. The case studies established that improving geometric design quality can significantly improve the road traffic safety of mountainous highways. It is also revealed that the existence of steep slopes, tunnels, and rapid horizontal and vertical alignment change can considerably compromise the geometric design quality (GDQ), therefore, configuring these parameters is worth of further investigation. Last but not least, this study provides essential knowledge to the regime of accident prevention, high-risk road section location and mapping, traffic safety management, and design of smart transport systems.
高速公路在中国经济发展中扮演着重要的角色，尤其是在山区。实际上，由于复杂的地质和地形条件，山区高速公路的设计可能是一项具有挑战性的任务。从安全角度来看，从设计上合理识别道路几何设计缺陷和潜在事故盲点也很重要。为此，本研究制定了一种创新的基于地理信息系统（GIS）的山区高速公路几何设计质量评估模型。首先，进行故障树分析（FTA）以确定一系列公路设计风险因素。其次，采用决策试验和评估实验室（DEMATEL）技术得出因素的权重和敏感性。第三，考虑道路驾驶适应性、交通安全敏感性、设计风险因素和有效距离，制定设计质量评估模型。第四，对位于中国西南部的山区公路进行了两个案例研究，以验证该模型。案例研究表明，提高几何设计质量可以显著提高山区高速公路的道路交通安全。研究还表明，陡坡、隧道和快速的水平和垂直路线变化的存在会大大降低几何设计质量（GDQ），因此，值得进一步研究这些参数的配置。最后但并非最不重要的是，本研究为事故预防、高风险路段定位和映射、交通安全管理以及智能交通系统的设计提供了必要的知识。
