Definition of traffic management plans in emergency conditions due to extreme meteorological events.

This paper describes the results of a study aimed at defining methodological tools and the implementation of a calculation model, whose object is to plan the management of emergency situations that can occur on road transport networks in case of exceptional events of different origin; in fact, during these crisis events, such road networks are asked to allow the circulation of rescue vehicles. An emergency situation, due to exceptional events, can become more critical in case of important traffic flows. These exceptional events can be divided into two categories: external events, among which the typical mountain events such as landslides and avalanches and the meteorological events connected to road transport in wintertime (e.g. ice formation, snow and floods); and internal events, caused by traffic (e.g. important accidents or other incidents typical of road operation). Theabove mentioned study aims at the operational definition of a decision-making support system (DSS), which consists of a database with geographical references on GIS support. This includes a set of computerized informationfor identifying the vulnerable network points on the basis of the supposable meteorological and hydro-geological events with road maintenance worksalso taken into account. A set of traffic models is included for the simulation of traffic flow and for the identification of alternative itineraries and a support system for the definition of traffic management plans. Traffic management interventions planned by means of the DSS contribute to define two different planning tools: Traffic Management Plans (TMP): whose goal is to define the alternative itineraries which detour normal traffic flows away from the area concerned with the aforementioned events; and Transport Emergency Management Plans (TEMP): whose goal is to define the shortest and the safer itineraries that rescue vehicles can use to reach the accident site, depending on the practicability of the concerned road network. For the covering abstract see ITRD E143097.