O10.14DURING A CLOSURE
O10.14.1 It is the supervisor’s responsibility to warn other members of the team by radio of hazards on the road or hard shoulder, such as debris, but in particular of stationary vehicles. When such a hazard is encountered, it is each driver’s responsibility to negotiate the hazard and come back to station as safely and quickly as possible, keeping the supervisor informed of his progress.
O10.14.2 It is the supervisor’s responsibility to decide what course of action to take, if any, in respect of any incident which may affect the safety of the Highway Authority or contractor’s personnel/vehicles, or public traffic on the road.
O10.14.3 When working in the vicinity of junctions or roundabouts, drivers of vehicles approaching from the side may not be able to see the rear-mounted signing or lanterns on the main route. In these circumstances, the works and/or signing vehicles should have their warning beacons switched on and appropriate signing should be provided on the side roads.
O10.14.4 Station keeping by hard shoulder sign display vehicles relative to the working vehicles may be a problem. One method found to be effective is for the driver of the leading warning vehicle to broadcast each marker post number as it is passed, and the vehicle’s approximate speed every kilometre. The problem of station keeping increases as the speed increases.
O10.14.5 Where there is no hard shoulder or the hard shoulder is of restricted width (see paragraph O10.19.4 below), the vehicle or trailer-mounted advance signs should be located on the verge where practicable. Consideration should be given to installing hard standings on the verge to locate these vehicles. Advice on the installation of such hard standings is included in TD 69 "The location and layout of lay-bys" (DMRB 6.3.3). Except when moving position, these vehicles should not encroach into the near side lane. Where verges are restricted, the use of lay-bys or field gate entrances may be considered. In ideal circumstances, drivers approaching a mobile closure should be able to see, at any instant, at least two consecutive signs. Where there is no hard shoulder (Plan MLC1), the warning vehicles should therefore be positioned so that:
- block vehicle B and vehicle C should be clearly visible from warning vehicle D;
- vehicles C and D should be clearly visible from warning vehicle E; and
- the distance between warning vehicle E and block vehicle B should be less than one kilometre.
O10.14.6 If, in extreme circumstances, suitable stopping points are not available for all three advance warning vehicles then Vehicle D may be omitted. This decision should be based on a site specific risk assessment. Vehicle D should always be used unless there are very sound reasons not to do so.
O10.14.7 If it is not possible to find sufficient stopping points, then the use of static traffic management will be necessary.
O10.14.8 The supervisor should co-ordinate the activities involved in recharging the tanks of working vehicles, e.g. during white lining and weed spraying, and should therefore be aware of the distances that can be travelled on each charge of material.
O10.14.9 Strict control of ancillary vehicles is essential especially when working in the right or centre lane, e.g. the tanker waiting to refill a white-lining machine should wait nearby on a lightly-trafficked road until required; then the driver can be called by radio to bring the vehicle on to the works section. Like all works vehicles, the tanker should be conspicuous and be fitted with flashing amber warning beacons to the same standard as the works vehicle. See Section O10.9.
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