The Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge (JMB), the 12th longest bridge in the world, was constructed in 1998 with the aim of accelerating economic development in Bangladesh by eliminating the bottleneck to the east-west corridor and activating economic exchanges between the regions. In recent years, however, the high incidence of traffic accidents and injuries at the bridge sites looms as a great safety concern. On average nearly 100 accidents are taking place each year on the 38 km road segments of national highways consisting of the bridge and its approach roads. Most of the accidents are off carriageway type including hitting objects and are highly clustered at few sites with the significant involvement of heavy vehicles, particularly trucks. This paper reports on the findings of a study to examine the full extent of the traffic safety problems using accident and injury statistics recorded by the bridge maintenance operator and hence to identify specific locations that have very hazardous characteristics for the development of effective safety improvement programs. Based on the analytical results coupled with in-depth on-site investigations, the study makes recommendations, which have safety implications for the bridge management. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E217099.
Samenvatting