Analysis and mitigation of hydroplaning risk considering spatial-temporal water condition on the pavement surface

ABSTRACT

Wet pavement surface on rainy days poses a challenge for traffic safety as it greatly impacts the safe driving speed and increases the hydroplaning risk. This study proposed a new approach to analyse and mitigate hydroplaning risk on roadways based on spatial-temporal water conditions and hydroplaning speeds. A theoretical analysis was conducted to predict the spatial-temporal water film depth under dynamic rainfall profile, considering the effects of roadway slope and pavement surface texture. The tire-water-pavement interaction model was then used to predict hydroplaning speeds of vehicles driving on different traffic lanes. According to the hydroplaning and traffic flow speeds, the spatial and temporal pattern of roadway hydroplaning risk was analysed. Considering traffic flow speeds, rainfall intensity, roadway geometry, and surface condition, the probability of hydroplaning occurrence at different times of rainfall and separate traffic lanes can be estimated using the proposed approach. Finally, the variable speed limits (VSL) approach was proposed to mitigate hydroplaning risk, which can be determined based on the hydroplaning threshold probability and the design speed limit of the roadway section.

KEYWORDS:

• Water film depth
• hydroplaning speed
• hydroplaning risk
• spatial and temporal distribution
• variable speed limits

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).