Work Packages

The project consists of 7 different work packages: 1 focused on the project management, 5 related to the essential project content and 1 regarding dissemination. Each package is lead by a different partner.

Work package 0: Project management

The aim of this work package is to ensure appropriate coordination and project management by arranging meetings with partners and keeping track of the project outputs. Moreover, in this WP, the description of the project is detailed in an inception report.

WP 1: Technical review of current road side standards and guidelines

A literature review of the guidelines for road side design and maintenance that are currently used by road authorities and practitioners in each of the participating countries will be conducted. Those guidelines will be assessed and the problem leading to the development of the project will be defined.

WP1 consists of 6 different tasks:

  • Literature search and selection of documents
  • Literature review and relationship between road side elements and safety (empirical basis)
  • Evaluation of design standards and guidelines
  • Assessment of road side maintenance guidelines, practices and road worker safety
  • Problem definition and scale of problem (road side crashes; road workers, etc.)
  • Reporting

WP2: Road authority review: road side design and operations

As part of WP2, personal interviews with representatives of National Road Authorities in the participating countries (i.e. those funding this research programme) and Germany and Portugal will be carried out. Moreover, online questionnaires will be designed and distributed to road authorities in other European countries. To support the online (internet based) questionnaire a user forum has been provided on the website. This can be used by road authorities to raise issues of concern related to road side design and maintenance in general or to get clarity on matters related to the questionnaire in particular (see also WP6 dealing with Dissemination) . Answers to those questionnaires will be used to describe the analyses and needs in the current practice regarding road side design and maintenance. In addition a framework will be developed for future guidelines.

This work package has 6 tasks:

  • Questionnaire survey design (Personal and internet)
  • Survey among EU road authorities and practitioners
    -Establishment of planned road side and other projects
  • Analysis and needs specification
  • Development of a framework for road side safety guidelines (design, operation, maintenance (incl. road worker safety))
  • Reporting

WP3: Safe road side strategy

The main factors contributing to roadside risk and measures to reduce the risk will be identified from analysing the output of WP1 and WP2. Considering those factors and measures, a methodology to assess roadside risk will be developed. Furthermore, an Excel based tool will be developed to allow road authorities to use the assessment methodology and to obtain recommendations for the most effective road safety strategy for road side design and management. The tool will be primarily for decision support and will make use of various algorithms describing prevailing conditions and leading to the safest and most effective treatment given the prevailing conditions or design parameters.

5 different tasks will be carried out in this work package:

  • Identification of contributory factors which affect the roadside risk
  • Identification of mitigation measures and processes which can reduce the roadside risk
  • Development of roadside risk approach assessment methodology
  • Development of roadside risk approach assessment tool
  • Report and draft user manual

WP4: Pilots and demonstration project

In this work package, the findings and especially the decision support tool developed in WP3 will be tested in the 8 earlier mentioned countries. The intention is to apply the developed tool and its supporting documentation on real life projects and to determine the usability, output and decision support capability. The participating road authorities will indicate shortcomings and suggest refinements so as to ensure that the tool supports safe road side design and management and improves on current practice. The acceptance of the tool by the road authorities is important and will facilitate wider implementation. The tasks that will be developed in WP4 are:

  • Pilot application (testing the concept guidelines and procedures in practice on a selected number of projects and roads in each country)
  • Fine tuning and final recommendation/guidelines
  • Reporting

WP5: Quality management and final report

Work package 5 ensures that all produced outputs meet both the scientific and quality requirements of the project. All the deliverables produced by WP1-4 will be internally reviewed and will form the basis for a final report. A plan for the implementation of the recommendations and decision support tool in in other EU countries will be developed. This plan will also provide recommendations regarding the minimum requirements for road side design and operation on European (TEN-T) roads and give an outline for providing future ongoing support and further development of the decision support tool and the project website. 3 different tasks will be part of this work package:

  • Coordination of relevant aspects and review of WP-reports
  • Final report and recommendations
  • Implementation plan

WP6: Dissemination

The objective of this work package is to ensure that road authorities in Europe are able to access the project results and to show the importance of a good road side design and maintenance in road safety. The website of the project will be promoted, where different European road authorities can share experiences and ideas. Two tasks will be carried out:

  • Establishment and promotion of the project website
  • Course and seminars

This figure shows the links between work packages