Wet Pavement Safety Programs

This synthesis will be of interest to pavement engineers, safety officers, and others interested in wet-pavement safety programs. Information is provided on the programs used by a number of agencies in gathering data and correcting areas of potential wet-weather accidents. Wet-pavement accidents continue to be of concern to highway agencies. This report of the Transportation Research Board summarizes agencies' programs in areas such as accident reporting, vehicle testing, friction testing, corrective actions for problem areas, and tort liability and gives some general guidelines for the content of a wet-pavement safety program.

This synthesis will be of interest to construction, maintenance, pavement design, and materials engineers, pavement contractors, and others interested in the use of open-graded friction courses (OGFC) as an asphalt concrete pavement wearing surface. Information is provided on performance benefits and limitations of OGFC, material and mixture properties, and current construction practices in use in the United States and Europe. Advances in mixture design and construction techniques have overcome several of the performance limitations identified in early applications of OGFC, as well as enhanced the performance benefits associated with OGFC use. This report of the Transportation Research Board describes the current state of the practice with respect to the use of OGFC. Experience with the design, construction, and performance of OGFC is summarized, based on a review of the literature, documentation of experience from applications in the U.S. and Europe, and site visits to several states.