Study On Key Parameters Of The Plateau Highway Alignment Based On Drivers’ Characteristics

Plateau highway is the major transport mode in western China,and it’s also an important guarantee for economic development and people’s life.In recent years,the plateau highway construction has developed rapidly in western China,but the number of traffic accidents has remained high.Road traffic is a dynamic system composed of people,cars and the road.These three elements must be coordinated,and the whole system can be safe,fast and comfortable.According to the research,the drivers driving on the plateau highway showed different driving characteristics from other highways due to the environmental impact of the plateau.More specifically,their perception,judgement and operation characteristics showed different from other drivers.They are more likely to experience driving fatigue and stress.The traditional highway design theory doesn’t take the influence of the plateau highway environment into account,and its rationality is often insufficient in the alignment design of the plateau highway.This study applies the research methods of medical and biological psychology to explore the inner relationship between the key parameters of plateau highway alignment and the driving characteristics showed on the driving tests on G314.The heart rate growth rate N and the EEG characteristic index R are used as evaluation indexes of the driving characteristics.This paper studies the proper value of the key parameters for plateau highway alignment design based on the study.The key parameters mentioned here include altitude,horizontal alignment,vertical alignment and the alignment combination of plateau highway.Based on a large number of driving test,the analysis results showed that with the increase of altitude the driving characteristics will tend to be not safe to drive.By analyzing a large number of driving test data,the relationship between the driving characteristics and the plateau highway alignment was built.Finally,this paper made the heart rate growth rate was 40% and the R was 3.5 to study the safe plateau highway alignment.The analysis results showed that,in the part of plateau highway above 4200 m the alignment designing need to pay special attention to the driver’s stress,the linear length between the two concentric curves should be longer,the radius of horizontal and vertical curve should be bigger.In the part of plateau highway alignment above 4900 m,the linear length between the two reverse curves needs to be increased appropriately.The slope of the highway should be reduced correspondingly with altitude.The reduction value is basically consistent with the highway design theory requirement.The slope change value near the grade change points should not be bigger than 4.6%.