CIVIL 764 Highway Safety and Operations - Course Outlines

Course Prescription

Advanced planning, design, operation and safety management of predominantly two way two lane highways, including: passing and overtaking models analysis and treatments, collision modification and mitigation, roadway design, skid resistance, delineation, temporary traffic control, evaluation methods, and environmental management measures. An independently applied research project will use advanced analytical skills to critically evaluate factors which impact highway safety.

Course Overview

This 15 point Masters paper is designed as an extension from undergraduate courses in Transportation Engineering and primarily focuses on the Road Safety and the Traffic Operational aspects of Two-Lane Highways. It is designed for personnel within industry and to those wanting to enter the transportation industry with a much better understanding of the factors and principles involved in planning, designing, operating and maintaining ‘safe’ highways. It is a special course in the Masters programme in Transportation Engineering as it will be guest lectured by Professor Emeritus John Morrall, of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada.

The course takes a Safe Systems approach and begins by understanding the human vulnerability to physical forces, reviews operational problems on Two-Lane Highways and Level of Service Measures and then looks specifically at the planning, designing and maintaining of highways from the pillars of the New Zealand Safe Highway System and the Waka Kotahi (New Zealand Transport Agency) Road to Zero Strategy. The course will also consider future highway systems and their safety implications and specific Highway Safety issues that will include the evaluation of Passing and Turning Improvements, Two-Lane Highway Consistency, Crash prediction modelling and Collision Mitigation measures. Highway Pavement surfacing characteristics and Skid Resistance, materials and engineering test methods will also be evaluated to ensure safe pavement surface designs and operations. A range of ‘real-life’ examples will be used for the purposes of integrating theory with professional practice – this will include case studies and project work.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: CIVIL 360, 361, and 15 points from 661, 759, or equivalent

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Analyse and appraise Operational Problems on Two-lane Highways that includes considering human vulnerability, Safe Systems and Road to Zero Strategy approaches, Traffic flow characteristics, special design vehicles, long combination vehicles, logging trucks. (Capability 1, 2, 3 and 6)
Analyse and evaluate Transportation System Levels of Service measures that will include a review of the Highway Capacity Manual Level of Service (LOS) principles and methods, Assured Passing Opportunity Model, Net Passing Opportunity Model, Overtaking Ratio Model. (Capability 1, 2 and 3)
Appraise and evaluate highway passing improvements including the need for Passing Improvements and the design, signing and marking of Passing Lanes, Climbing lanes and Turn-outs. and economically evaluate improvement options. (Capability 1, 2, 3 and 6)
Evaluate and apply the need for highway turning Improvements, alternatives, intersection turn lanes, shoulder by-pass lanes and the design for logging trucks. (Capability 1, 2 and 3)
Evaluate and apply the planning and design for highway operational consistency, systems of Passing Lanes, locational criteria, simulation models, Benefit – Cost Analysis and the effective length of Passing and Climbing Lanes. Graphical techniques to determine the need and location of passing lanes and climbing lanes. (Capability 1, 2 and 3)
Analyse, apply and evaluate fundamental knowledge of Rural Road Safety, explicit evaluation of safety in Design, Collision Modification Factors (CMFs) and the Road Safety Audit process and the safety effects of converting Rural Two lane Highways to Four lanes. (Capability 1, 2, 3 and 6)
Apply and evaluate fundamental knowledge of road safety and skid resistance of transportation surfaces, friction testing methods, variations in skid resistance, standards of skid resistance, methods of measuring and managing skid resistance and treatment options. (Capability 1, 2, 3 and 6)
Analyse and critically evaluate roadway, roadside and intersection countermeasures and the temporary Traffic Control for Work Zones. (Capability 1, 2 and 3)

Assessments

Assessment Type	Percentage	Classification
Project and Assignments	40%	Individual Coursework
Final Exam	60%	Individual Examination
2 types	100%

Assessment Type	Learning Outcome Addressed
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Project and Assignments
Final Exam

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 32 hours of lectures, 12 hours of tutorials, 50 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 46 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

The course will be taught in “block mode” so that practicing engineers are able to attend. This will consist of two teaching blocks of three days during the first semester of 2020.

Attendance is expected at scheduled block day activities including labs/tutorials to complete components of the course.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other block course learning activities including tutorials will not be available as recordings.
The course will include live online events including tutorials.
Attendance on campus is required for the exam.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

A detailed schedule will be supplied separately at the beginning of the course. This will set out the topics of the lectures and tutorials, dates, venue and details on the assessments.

Lectures will cover the main information and principles including the issue of notes, however additional reading will be required for this course. Tutorials will be used principally for questions and discussion, the project, presentations, revision, and a summary test.

Reading reference material will be sent out approximately three weeks prior to the beginning of the first block course. This material is background material and will be expected to have been read and understood prior to the beginning of the course.

Additional Reading will be provided to provide additional reading. There are many texts on the web or in the library that provide useful additions including - TEXTBOOKS AND REFERENCES: The main texts are as follows – others will be advised.

Two-Lane Highway Traffic Operations, John R. McLean. Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1989.
Rural Road Design, Guide to the Design of Rural Roads (Chapter 9 Auxiliary Lanes), AUSTROADS, 1999.
Overtaking Lane Practice in Canada and Australia, Research Report ARR 144, Australian Road Research Board, 1986.
Road Safety Manual, Recommendations from the World Road Association (PIARC), PIARC, 2015.
Highway Capacity Manual 2000, Chapter 20, Two-Lane Highways, Transportation Research Board, 2000.
Safer Roads: A guide to Road Safety Engineering, K.W.Ogden, Ashgate Publishing 1996.
Designing Safer Roads, Special Report 214, Transportation Research Board, 1987.

Health & Safety

Students are expected to adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Health and Safety section of the Engineering Undergraduate Handbook.

Specific Health and Safety procedures will be discussed in class for a technical site visit to a transportation infrastructure construction site.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Capability 1:	Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2:	Critical Thinking
Capability 3:	Solution Seeking
Capability 6:	Social and Environmental Responsibilities

CIVIL 764 : Highway Safety and Operations

Engineering

2021 Semester One (1213) (15 POINTS)