Testing Temporary Work Zone Rumble Strips

The purpose of this project was to help identify the optimal design of temporary rumble strips that would be used in a work zone. The project involved a focus group and a psychological scaling experiment, where each subject was asked to evaluate a temporary rumble strip relative to a cut-in-pavement rumble strip. In addition, sound and vibration measurements were made from within a vehicle passing over the strips. The ATM rumble strips (0.25 inches thick) were deployed within an actual work zone in Washington County (WI), while the RTI strips (0.75 inches thick) were tested in a large parking lot. An ATM strip when traversed at 55 mph was about as effective a warning device as a cut-in-pavement rumble strip. This same strip configuration when traversed at 40 mph was ineffective. The RTI product is an effective warning device for vehicle speeds between 10 and 40 mph.