Quantitative Framework for Construction Safety Evaluation in Designing Temporary Haul Road Layout on Site Grading Projects

Temporary haul road layout design is a main factor influencing the cost and safety of haulage in heavy civil construction, especially on large site grading projects which entail mass earthworks. The ideal design of temporary haul road layout is to deliver the project in the lowest construction budget while guaranteeing haulage safety. Previous research endeavours have focused on achieving the lowest earthmoving cost in designing temporary haul road layout but failed to incorporate the equally important safety factors, thus rendering the optimized design to be possibly associated with high safety risks. This paper proposes a framework that aims to quantify haul road design related safety factors in a large site grading project. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methodology is further evaluated by a real world case study. A comparative table with information on safety performance index values and safety indicator values of four alternative layout designs is given to visualize the quantification outcome. In conclusion, the proposed methodology enables construction planners to quantitatively evaluate haul road related safety impact, leading to significant improvements in the safety performance of temporary haul road layout.