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                Jones/Linn County Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Overlay With Safety Edge SM
**Publication Year:** 
            2011
    
        Original publication: National Roadway Safety Awards: Noteworthy Practices Guide; 2011

Description of Practice

An Iowa State University study found that a pavement edge drop-off may have been a contributing factor in approximately 18% of rural run-off-the-road crashes on paved roadways with unpaved shoulders. They also found that pavement edge drop-off-related crashes were twice as likely to result in fatalities as other crash types on similar roadways. Safety EdgeSM was installed on a 2.7 mile stretch of roadway which had been previously identified as a “High Risk Rural Road” and the agency evaluated the constructability, quality, and performance of the project.

Key Accomplishments and Results:

Installation of 6-inch unbonded Portland cement concrete (PCC) overlay placed of an existing 6-inch PCC pavement. Overlay included two 11-foot lanes with tied 2-foot shoulders plus a 9-inch wide, 30-degree sloped Safety EdgeSM in both eastbound and westbound directions.
	Crash reduction factors indicate that the use of Safety EdgeSM has the potential to reduce crashes by 5.7 percent and may provide additional pavement edge stability improving overall pavement life."Two photographs: (1) a construction crew lays down a road surface with a Safety Edge and (2) the a finished road with a Safety Edge"

Contacts

Mike McClain
Jones County Secondary Roads Department
319-462-3785engineer@co.jones.ia.us

Steve Gannon
Linn County Secondary Roads Department
319-892-6400Steve.Gannon@linncounty.org U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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