Page:UK Traffic Signs Manual - Chapter 8 - Part 2- Traffic Safety Measures and Signs for Road Works and Temporary Situations) - Operations 2009.pdf/48

OPERATIONAL ISSUES

Highway authorities, statutory undertakers and contractors shall consult/notify the appropriate airport authority when planned or emergency works are being carried out in the vicinity of controlled aircraft taxiway crossings, at runway thresholds and manned or unmanned landside/airside vehicle access control posts. The traffic control arrangements for railway level crossings, set out in Part 1: Design, Section D5.17, may be varied after consultation with the airport authority to suit airport operational requirements.

Special safety precautions must be taken when works are to be carried out near a tramway. Detailed advice must be obtained by the works supervisor from the relevant track or transport authority prior to starting work and should be given to those carrying out the works.

Tramcars are wider than the tracks on which they run. The path of a tramcar, which must be left unobstructed, is known as the 'swept path'. In some cases this is indicated by a line of yellow discs, a painted line or a raised kerb.

It is essential that signing and guarding equipment, operatives, vehicles and pedestrians are kept out of the swept path. Where the works cause the footway to be diverted into the carriageway, the barrier between the pedestrians and the tramway must be kept at least 0.5 m away from the edge of the swept path.

Where the safety zone lateral clearance would intrude on the swept path, the transport authority should be consulted. The safety zone may be reduced to 300 mm and the transport authority may impose a speed restriction on tramcars and/or provide a lookout.

Tramway electrical cables consist of overhead lines and underground cables that may be placed outside the swept path. The works supervisor should liaise with the track or transport authority before working close to overhead lines. No equipment, plant, vehicles etc. should be brought within 2 m of the overhead lines. Underground cables should be dealt with using standard safe digging practices.

Where a tramway runs on a reserved track but crosses the road at certain places, such crossings should be treated as railway level crossings. See Section O3.25.

Where scaffolding or other type of temporary structure, such as a scaffold tower, is to be erected on or adjacent to a roadway or highway, a risk assessment should be conducted to consider whether impact protection should be provided, particularly if part of the scaffold is on the carriageway or edge of the footway (see Section O4.11 for guidance on types of barriers). The site of the structure shall be suitably signed and guarded in accordance with the appropriate principles of the design document and the safety clearances described in Section O3.2 should be adhered to at all times.

Where scaffolding or other type of temporary structure is erected on or adjacent to a footway, or any other part of a roadway or highway, it is essential that its presence is made clear to visually impaired people as required by the  and Chapter 43 of the. Each tubular support should be provided with a white band, 150 mm in depth, the lower edge of the band being about 1.6 m above ground level. Temporary close-boarded structures delineating a footway should be provided with a continuous white band of the same depth and at the same height above the ground level in the immediate vicinity. Scaffolding and temporary structures adjacent to a footway should be lit during the hours of darkness. 46