Development of mitigation measures for safe transportation of hazardous materials

The number of hazardous materials transported by truck mode and also the quantities shipped continues to grow every year. In recognition of the potential disasters associated with the occurrence of the release of hazardous materials, several studies have been conducted on various aspects of the problem - assessment of risk, container safety, emergency response, disaster assistance, regulations, routing etc. The development of mitigation measures is a relatively new area in hazardous materials research in the sense that it has not been studied comprehensively. The objective of this study is to determine the appropriateness and effectiveness of different steps to be taken to reduce either the likelihood of hazardous materials accidents/incidents or the damage which would ensue from a release for different hazardous materials. This work attempts to identify, or flag, potentially high-risk locations due to spills of hazardous materials, and to evaluate the alternatives to be designed and implemented in order to reduce risk. The appropriate type of roadway improvements for the safe transportation of hazardous material trucks and protective systems that might be incorporated into new or reconstructed highway segments in order to mitigate consequences are presented for various generalized scenarios. The output of mitigation is the reduced risk value. This work forms a part of a comprehensive decision making framework integrating the risk identification, calculation, and mitigation that can apply to both urban and rural areas.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Civil Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1990

Author dc:creator

• Sethuraman, Rajagopal

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-05092009-040732

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/42573