An Investigation of Hydroplaning Reduction at Superelevated Highway Transitions in Kansas

Abstract

Superelevated highway transitions experience an area of zero-cross slope as the outside lane transitions from a normal crown cross slope to superelevation. These areas of poor drainage cause an increase in water accumulation on highways, which can lead to a higher likelihood for hydroplaning and endanger motorists. Across the world, varying weather patterns due to climate change cause stronger precipitation events, which can increase the water on roadways and further exacerbate the potential for hydroplaning along superelevation transitions. Therefore, methods of reducing hydroplaning will become of more importance under a changing climate, yet, identifying areas with increased likelihood of hydroplaning and how to remediate the issue is challenging due to numerous underlying issues that differ from one location to another. To help address this issue, a proactive approach to hydroplaning mitigation is outlined in this study. Several superelevated highway locations with potential hydroplaning problems in Kansas were identified based on expert knowledge from KDOT engineers. These locations were used to identify potential areas of problematic hydroplaning. These potentially problematic locations were then analyzed using data from digital terrain mapping and laser crack measuring systems to pinpoint specific areas near superelevated highway transitions where water would accumulate to induce hydroplaning. Several mitigation strategies are discussed for these locations, including using slope flow path minimization at transition areas to mediate water accumulation issues as well as other methods of mitigating hydroplaning by use of techniques currently used in the United States. Additionally, a robust and broadly applicable method of identifying areas with high wet-weather related crashes was developed by using a general clustering technique along with gridded precipitation data to begin to detect future areas of high hydroplaning potential.