A1VAR Variante di Valico – Road Safety

Project Introduction
The Project involves the upgrading of the highway A1 Milan-Naples along the Apennine section between Bologna and Florence junctions, named “Variante di Valico”. The current traffic flow along the existing section is about 89,000 vehicles per day, with peak of 25,000  heavy vehicles per day.

The new alignment (43 km approx.) is characterized by more of 85% in underground: in this context, the road safety study has been the crucial point to all design and construction phases. The Road Safety study includes:

•Tunnels Safety Design, including the risks analysis assessment, the definition of the emergency procedures and any other aspects required by the Italian legislative decree no. 264/2006 that acknowledged the European Directive 2004/54/CE “on minimum safety requirements for tunnels in the Trans-European Road Network”.
•Road Safety Technical Specifications focused on the user-oriented design approach;
•Review in terms of visibility analysis and speed range;
•Road Safety Detailed and Final Design (restrain systems, signs, road markings, lighting), including the FEA (Finite Element Analysis);
•Road Accident Analysis based on available accidents data over the  last years;
•Analysis of the relationship between speed management and level of services.