![A7-Notbremsweg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/A7-Notbremsweg.jpg)
A runaway truck ramp, runaway truck lane, escape lane, emergency escape ramp, or truck arrester bed is a traffic device that enables vehicles which are having braking problems to safely stop. It is typically a long,
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
- or
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
-filled lane connected to a steep downhill
grade
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also ref ...
section of a main road, and is designed to accommodate large
truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
s or
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es. It allows a moving vehicle's
kinetic energy
In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion.
It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acc ...
to be dissipated gradually in a controlled and relatively harmless way, helping the operator stop it safely.
Design
Emergency escape ramps are usually located in mountainous areas which cause high construction costs and present difficult site selection.
A ramp may cost US$1 million.
Designs include:
*''Arrester bed'': a gravel-filled ramp adjacent to the road that uses
rolling resistance
Rolling resistance, sometimes called rolling friction or rolling drag, is the force resisting the motion when a body (such as a ball, tire, or wheel) rolls on a surface. It is mainly caused by non-elastic effects; that is, not all the energy nee ...
to stop the vehicle.
The required length of the bed depends on the mass and speed of the vehicle, the grade of the arrester bed, and the rolling resistance provided by the gravel.
*''Gravity escape ramp'': a long, upwardly inclined path parallel to the road. Substantial length is required. Control can be difficult for the driver; problems include rollback after the vehicle stops.
*''Sand pile escape ramp'': a short length of loosely piled sand. Problems include sudden, forceful deceleration; sand being affected by weather conditions (moisture and freezing); and vehicles vaulting and/or overturning after contacting the sand pile.
*''Mechanical-arrestor escape ramp'': a proprietary system of stainless-steel nets transversely spanning a paved ramp to engage and retard a runaway vehicle. Ramps of this type are typically shorter than gravity ramps, and can work even on a downhill grade.
These systems tend to be costly, but may save expensive real estate in crowded areas, and prevent even more costly crashes. One such ramp at
Avon, Connecticut
Avon ( ) is a town in the Farmington Valley region of Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 18,932.
History
Avon was settled in 1645 and was originally a part of neighboring Farmington, ...
in the United States has an electrically heated pavement surface to prevent snow and ice accumulation.
*''Alternatives'': such as a vehicle arresting barrier.
Location
Emergency escape ramps are usually located on steep, sustained
grades
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also r ...
, as in mountainous areas.
Long descending grades can allow high vehicle speeds to be reached, and truck
brakes
A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction.
Background ...
can overheat and fail through extensive use. The ramps are often built before a critical change in the
radius of curvature
In differential geometry, the radius of curvature, , is the reciprocal of the curvature. For a curve, it equals the radius of the circular arc which best approximates the curve at that point. For surfaces, the radius of curvature is the radius o ...
of the road, or before a place that may require the vehicle to stop, such as before an intersection in a populated area.
The placement criteria can vary from one region/country to another.
Gallery
File:Runaway truck ramp east of Asheville, NC IMG 5217.JPG, Runaway ramp on Interstate 40
Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...
east of Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
File:Great Eastern Highway Truck Arrester Bed.JPG, An arrester bed on Great Eastern Highway
Great Eastern Highway is a road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields, it is the western portion of the main road link ...
in Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, located at the bottom of a hill before an intersection
File:Escape Ramp In China Expwy G4511-cropped.jpg, An emergency escape ramp on the G4511 in Heyuan
Héyuán (, Hakka:Fò-Ngiàn) is a prefecture-level city of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,837,686 whom 1,051,993 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yuancheng urban ...
, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
File:TER US 44 Westbound Avon, CT, USA.png, Mechanical-arrestor truck escape ramp (with heated pavement) on US 44
U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonkson, ...
westbound in Avon, Connecticut
Avon ( ) is a town in the Farmington Valley region of Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 18,932.
History
Avon was settled in 1645 and was originally a part of neighboring Farmington, ...
File:20141118 Misiryeong Penetrating Road (Emergency Escape Ramp)2.jpg, An emergency escape ramp on Misiryeong Penetrating Road in Gangwon Province, Korea
File:I-176Runway.jpg, I-176 runaway truck ramp in Morgantown, PA
File:Escape ramp on the A7 near Amskroud, Morocco.jpg, A 100 meter long gravel escape ramp downhill on the A7 near Amskroud
Amskroud ( ber, ⴰⵎⵙⴽⵔⵓⴹ, Amskruḍ) is a small town and rural commune in Agadir-Ida Ou Tanane Prefecture, Souss-Massa, Morocco. It is located about by road northeast of Agadir
Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰ ...
in Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
.
File:Thailand's escape ramp.jpg, An emergency escape ramp on the AH1
Asian Highway 1 (AH1) is the longest route of the Asian Highway Network, running from Tokyo, Japan via Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran to the border between Turkey and Bulgaria west of Istanbul ...
in Tak, Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
File:Traverse City Runaway Truck Ramp.png, M-72 runaway truck ramp in Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was ...
File:Emergency stopping lane in Muğla, Turkey.jpg, Emergency stopping lane in Muğla
Muğla () is a city in southwestern Turkey. The city is the center of the District of Menteşe and Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey's Aegean coast. Muğla's center is situated inland at an altitude of 660 m and lies at a dista ...
, Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
File:Runaway truck ramp near Silverthorne, Colorado.png, Runaway truck ramp on Interstate 70
Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...
near Silverthorne, Colorado
The Town of Silverthorne is a home rule municipality in Summit County, Colorado. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 3,887.
History
The town was named for Judge Marshall Silverthorn who served as the judge of the miner ...
.
File:Emergency exit on the I-5 road between Ruse and Byala.jpg, Improvised emergency exit for runaway vehicles on the I-5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
near Byala, Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
See also
*
Catch points
Catch points and trap points are types of turnout which act as railway safety devices. Both work by guiding railway carriages and trucks from a dangerous route onto a separate, safer track. Catch points are used to derail vehicles which are ou ...
*
Derail
A derail or derailer is a device used to prevent fouling (blocking or compromising) of a rail track (or collision with anything present on the track, such as a person, or a train) by unauthorized movements of trains or unattended rolling stock. ...
*
Engineered materials arrestor system
An engineered materials arrestor system, engineered materials arresting system (EMAS), or arrester bed is a bed of engineered materials built at the end of a runway to reduce the severity of the consequences of a runway excursion. Engineered ma ...
*
Runway safety area
A runway safety area (RSA) or runway end safety area (RESA) is defined as "the surface surrounding the runway prepared or suitable for reducing the risk of damage to airplanes in the event of an undershoot, overshoot, or excursion from the runway. ...
(RSA/RESA) for airplanes
References
External links
Design considerationsQuery executed on live Openstreetmap data. Move the map to your area of interest and press RunVideo: runaway truck on gravel ramp
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Road safety
Trucks
Road infrastructure