SITES FOR CONVENTIONAL SAFETY RAMPS ARE DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN IN THE WOLLONGONG AREA OF NEW SOUTH WALES. THE ROAD RESEARCH LABORATORY (RRL) (PRESENTLY TRANSPORT AND ROAD RESEARCH LABORATORY) IN THE UNITED KINGDOM HAS TESTED DECELERATION BEDS OF GRAVEL AND ARTIFICIAL AGGREGATE BUT SIMILAR MATERIALS ARE NOT AVAILABLE NEAR WOLLONGONG. THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE FIELD TESTING OF A DECELERATION BED OF DUNE SAND ON A LEVEL SITE USING A STATION SEDAN AND A SINGLE UNIT TRUCK OF A GROSS WEIGHT OF 10 TONNES. ENTRY SPEEDS OVER A RANGE FROM 20KM/H TO 85KM/H WERE COVERED AND THE DECELERATION OBTAINED WAS OF THE SAME ORDER AS THAT ACHIEVED BY THE GRAVEL AND ARTIFICIAL AGGREGATE BEDS IN THE RRL TESTS. STOPPING DISTANCE WAS FOUND TO BE SIMILAR FOR BOTH TEST VEHICLES AND DEPENDENT ON ENTRY SPEED. (A). FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS SEE IRRD ABSTRACT NO. 226354.
Samenvatting