Managing pavement edge drop-offs
Pavement edge drop-offs were one of the problems mentioned at the TZD Conference (see related article). Each year an estimated 11,000 Americans are injured and at least 160 are killed in crashes related to unsafe pavement edges. In addition, tort liability claims resulting from pavement edge drop-offs cost highway agencies millions of dollars every year.
One solution for the problem is to adopt a standard contract specification requiring an asphalt-fillet safety edge at a 30- to 40-degree angle along each side of the roadway in all resurfacing projects (see Figure 1).
The cost of the asphalt fillet is minimal compared to the total amount of the resurfacing contract, and it pays back in countless dollars saved from a reduction in fatalities, injuries, property damage, and lawsuits. The fillet ties the existing shoulder into the resurfaced roadway and allows a vehicle to reenter the road safely.
Source: Minnesota County Engineers Association March/April 2006 newsletter, Vol. 2, Issue 2 (www.mncountyengineers.org/Committees/Safety%20Committee/Newsletter%20Archive.htm)
Figure 1: Typical section sheet with the safety edge