BUSINESS SCOPE
Key Technologies for Operational Risk Prevention and Control on Long, Steep Grade Sections of Mountainous Expressways
Project Overview
The Liupanshui–LiuZhi Expressway (hereinafter referred to as the “Liuliu Expressway”) was completed and opened to traffic in January 2015. It has a total length of approximately 61 kilometers, with a total estimated investment of about 6.2 billion yuan. The expansion project of the Zunyi–Guiyang section of the Lanhai National Expressway (hereinafter referred to as the “Gui-Zun Duplicate Line”) was completed and opened to traffic in January 2018. This section is about 147 kilometers long, with a total estimated investment of approximately 24.2 billion yuan. Both the Liuliu Expressway and the Gui-Zun Duplicate Line are mountainous and hilly expressways characterized by complex terrain, significant vertical fluctuations, and concentrated long, steep gradients, posing prominent traffic safety risks. After years of intensive research, this project has developed a systematic approach for assessing operational risks on long downhill sections of mountainous expressways, refined safety design techniques for such sections, and invented a risk prevention and control system and associated equipment specifically tailored for long downhill segments of mountainous expressways. These innovations enable dynamic risk assessment and disaster early warning for traffic conditions on special road sections, providing crucial support for formulating safe handling strategies for highways with a high proportion of freight vehicles and for the timely detection and management of sudden traffic incidents. The project has also addressed a series of major technical challenges, including the balanced design of alignment indicators for long-gradient sections of mountainous expressways, the rationality of safety facility effectiveness, and highway safety assurance measures, thereby establishing key technologies, equipment, and standards for operational risk prevention and control on long downhill sections of mountainous expressways.
Project Highlights
1. Addressing the critical challenge of driving safety on long, steep downhill sections, China has for the first time conducted research on a monitoring, early-warning, and emergency-rescue platform for escape lanes. The intelligent early-warning system developed for heavy trucks on long, steep downhill sections of mountainous expressways achieves precise monitoring and early warning of vehicles on key road segments, demonstrating both innovation and practicality in its technology.
2. Based on technological advancements, we have proposed tailored countermeasures for the operation and management of long, steep-grade road sections. By implementing an emergency refuge lane management system, multi-section monitoring equipment, and an information control system, we have established a comprehensive, end-to-end safety management framework that has significantly enhanced the precision and intelligence of the operation and management of these long, steep-grade road sections.
3. After the project was implemented, the downhill speed of trucks was effectively controlled. On the Liuliu Expressway and the Gui-Zun Duplicate Line, no serious accidents such as brake failures in trucks occurred. The number of traffic accidents and the fatality rate significantly decreased, greatly reducing the economic losses and negative social impacts caused by traffic accidents. The research findings can be widely applied to other mountainous expressways across China, providing valuable experience for the management and upgrading of hazardous road sections, enhancing transportation efficiency, and promoting the development of highway transportation in China’s mountainous regions. This will also create a favorable environmental foundation for the rapid economic development of Guizhou Province.
4. The research findings can be comprehensively applied to all stages of design, safety upgrades, and operational management of long, steep-gradient sections and emergency escape lanes on mountainous expressways, providing theoretical support for related safety design and renovation efforts and offering a scientific basis for developing safety assurance measures. The market application prospects are broad.
Honorable Achievements
1. First Prize, Guizhou Provincial Highway Society, 2018;
2. Third Prize, Guizhou Province Science and Technology Progress Award, 2021;
3. 8 invention patents, 3 software copyrights, and 34 published papers, including 19 papers indexed by SCI/EI.
Address: No. 100, Yangguan Avenue, National High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province
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