EP2918724B1

EP2918724B1 - Municipal crossroads structure

Info

Publication number: EP2918724B1
Application number: EP12888202.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Su Tim Fok
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-11-12
Filing date: 2012-11-12
Publication date: 2017-05-31
Anticipated expiration: 2032-11-12
Also published as: PL2918724T3; WO2014071543A1; JP6093871B2; EP2918724A1; US20150284913A1; KR20150105949A; CN104093907A; JP2015535556A; EP2918724A4; CN104093907B; HK1215058A1

Description

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a municipal road structure, and particularly to a municipal crossroads structure.

Background of the Invention

The best traffic is reflected by smooth traffic at an intersection. At present, municipal crossroads mainly employ road structures such as planar crossing, roundabout, viaduct, multi-layer interchange or high headroom tunnels. However, these current road structures have their respective drawbacks and cannot effectively solve traffic jam issue of a city. For example, on crossroads employing planar crossing, traffic lights need to be used to control the passing of vehicles in turn, gather vehicles up and then release them, as a result that traffic jam probably occurs at the crossroads. Furthermore, drivers' rush to pass the crossroads during a green light duration or run the red light to save time is likely to cause accidents such as rear-end collision or turn collision and thereby cause serious losses such as people's injury or damages to vehicles; regarding crossroads employing roundabout, traffic lights are still needed at a location with a larger traffic flow to control the passing of vehicles in turn, and therefore the above drawback still exists; regarding the crossroads employing the viaduct or multi-layer interchange, a longer approach bridge is needed at both ends of the middle of the viaduct or interchange and a lot of bridge piers are used, which requires investment of large funds and causes a massive engineering workload and a very long construction duration. An interchange project at the crossing usually last several years and occupies a lot of precious land resources of the city, and building a multi-layer interchange at a busy road segment in downtown will reduce business value of locations around the interchange. Due to these factors, it is impossible to build a multi-layer interchange at most of crossroads in a city and thereby cause a bottleneck effect and cause vehicles to get into a more serious traffic jam at next crossing after passing the multi-layer interchange; regarding crossroads employing a high headroom tunnel, the headroom of the tunnel must be kept higher, usually up to five meters, to enable large vehicles to pass through the tunnel, thereby causing a large earth digging workload, a long construction duration and a large investment. For these reasons, it is impossible to build a high headroom tunnel at most crossroads in a city. After getting out of the high headroom tunnel, vehicles are also caught in a traffic jam, which also causes a bottleneck effect.

Summary of the Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a municipal crossroads structure capable of solving traffic jam issue. The crossroads structure can substantially reduce stay time of vehicles at the crossroads, requires small investment of funds, and exhibits small engineering workload and short construction duration.
A main technical solution employed by the present invention is as follows: a municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue comprises a first artery and a second artery which cross each other and each are bidirectional lanes, ground road surfaces of the first artery and the second artery form at an intersection a central platform sharing the ground road surface, the first artery is provided with bidirectional low tunnels passing underneath the central platform, a height of the low tunnels enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is no less than 2 meters and no more than 3 meters, the low tunnels rise to the ground surface again after passing beneath the central platform, a cross turning tunnel is diverged from an outside edge of a travel direction of the low tunnel, the height of the cross turning tunnel enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is no less than 2 meters and no more than 3 meters, the cross turning tunnel makes a U turn underground the front of an upslope ramp of the low tunnel and is connected with the second artery in the same direction after a transition of a segment of turning upslope ramp, the ground road surface of the first artery is divided by the low tunnels into left and right ground surface lanes which are opposite in drive direction and intended for travel of large vehicles, the two ground surface lanes are connected on the central platform to form two U-turn lanes which are opposite in U turn direction and intended for U turn of large vehicles, the two U-turn lanes are located on left and right sides of a straight-on lane of the second artery on the central platform, a lane turning to an outside edge of the second artery is diverged from the outside edge of the travel direction of the ground road surface of the first artery, and a lane turning to the outside edge of the first artery is diverged from the outside edge of the travel direction of the second artery.
As a further improved or preferred embodiment, the present invention may also employ the following additional technical solutions:

The height of the low tunnels enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is in a range of 2.50-2.60 meters.

The height of the low tunnels enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is jointly constituted by a sink depth of a bottom road surface of the tunnel and a lift height of a road foundation on top of the tunnel.
The height of the cross turning tunnel enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is in a range of 2.50-2.60 meters.
The height of the cross turning tunnel enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is jointly constituted by a sink depth of a bottom road surface of the tunnel and a lift height of a road foundation on top of the tunnel.
The first artery is provided with an underground footway passage, and an escape door is provided between the underground footway passage and the underground U-turn location of the cross turning tunnel.
An air ventilation window is provided on the top of the underground footway passage of the first artery.
An air ventilation window is provided on the top of the cross turning tunnel.
A temporary parking area is provided on an outside edge of the travel direction of the cross turning tunnel.
A raised rainwater isolating belt is provided on the ground at an inlet and an outlet of the low tunnel.
The present invention has the following prominent advantages:

1. In the main technical solution of the present invention, the central platform and the low tunnels and the cross turning tunnels of the first artery jointly act to diverge traffic flow of large and small vehicles and vehicles in all directions. The middle of the road and the low tunnels of the first artery form an express way dedicated for travel of small vehicles and can effectively avoid large vehicles from running on the express way and slowing down the traffic speed. Small vehicles which run straight and account for a larger proportion of vehicles running on the first artery can pass beneath the second artery directly through the low tunnels, all vehicles running on the first artery and intended to make a U turn may make a U turn smoothly and safely through the central platform. These vehicles needn't be controlled with traffic lights and do not affect vehicles running in other directions. This not only makes the pass of vehicles on the first artery smoother, but also shortens the green-light passing-through time allocated to large vehicles on the first artery so that the traffic flow on the first artery and second artery becomes smoother.
2. As compared with current crossroads employing a high headroom tunnel or interchange, the height of the low tunnels and the cross turning tunnels enabling vehicles to pass therethrough employed in the present invention is no more than 3 meters, which can substantially reduce the construction workload, shorten construction duration and reduce costs.
3. As compared with the current crossroads employing an interchange, the crossroads structure according to the present invention occupies substantially less land resources. Even if the crossroads structure is built at a busy road segment in downtown, it will not reduce the business value of locations therearound, and is easy to spread to most high-traffic flow crossings of the whole city, thereby solving the bottleneck effect and enabling the traffic of the whole city to become smoother.
4. In an improved solution of the present invention, the height of the low tunnels enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is no more than 3 meters, and the height of the low tunnels enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is jointly constituted by a sink depth of a bottom road surface of the tunnel and a lift height of a road foundation on top of the tunnel. Such semi-sink semi-lift tunnel structure further reduces the digging depth from the ground surface upon building the low tunnels, and avoids confrontation with underground water. Foundation piles are easier to construct with the construction site being enclosed simply. This reduces the construction duration and cuts the construction costs. Pieces resulting from crushing of the original road surface, hard sand, soil and mud dug out may be blended into concrete and stirred evenly to fill in an under layer of the road surface rise location, whereby soil and mud dug out needn't be totally transported away, and an influence exerted by heavy-duty transport vehicles on traffic is reduced during construction. Furthermore, this reduces the sink depth of the ground surface and facilitates movement and reconstruction of sewage.
5. In an improved solution of the present invention, the height of the cross turning tunnels enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is no more than 3 meters, and the height of the cross turning tunnels enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is jointly constituted by a sink depth of a bottom road surface of the tunnel and a lift height of a road foundation on top of the tunnel. The resultant advantages are identical with those in the above Item 4 and will not be detailed again here.
6. In an improved solution of the present invention, a raised rainwater isolating belt is provided on the ground at an inlet and an outlet of the low tunnel, thereby preventing a flood of rainwater from flowing in the low tunnel along the lane, preventing hindrance to travel of vehicles due to water ponding and reducing the workload of the water pump.
7. The invention is adapted for cities of all developed countries, particularly for universal reconstruction of crossroads where small vehicles account for a majority of the traffic flow and cause traffic jam, such that limited resources are used to smooth more crossroads, and an effect of increasing municipal roads can be achieved without widening the road surface.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 is a structural schematic view of an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a top view of Fig. 1 taken by an orthogonal projection method;
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a location of a rainwater isolating belt;
Fig. 4 is an embodiment of the present invention adapted for left-hand traffic rules;
Fig. 5 is a top view of Fig. 4 taken by an orthogonal projection method.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to figures and embodiments. Width of various lanes stated in the present invention is not limited to the figures and may be designed by a standard according to actual situations. The "crossing" stated in the present invention is not limited to perpendicular crossing, and an angle of intersection of two arteries at the crossing is not limited to 90 degrees. The term "cross turning tunnel" stated in the present invention refers to a left-turn tunnel in countries and regions where drivers drive on the right hand side, and a right-turn tunnel in countries and regions where drivers drive on the left hand side.
Referring to Fig. 1, a municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to the present invention comprises a first artery 1 and a second artery 2 which cross each other and each are bidirectional lanes. Ground road surfaces of the first artery 1 and the second artery 2 form a central platform 3 sharing the ground road surface at an intersection. The first artery 1 is provided with bidirectional low tunnels 4 passing underneath the central platform 3 (a partition wall is provided between the bidirectional lanes of the low tunnels 4 in the figure). A height of the low tunnels enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is no less than 2 meters and no more than 3 meters, preferably 2.50-2.60 meters. The low tunnels 4 rise to the ground surface again after passing beneath the central platform 3.
Referring to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 at the same time, a cross turning tunnel 5 is diverged from an outside edge of a travel direction of the low tunnel 4. Fig. 2 uses white dotted lines to illustrate the underground portions of the cross turning tunnel 5 and the low tunnel 4. The cross turning tunnel 5 makes a U turn underground the front of an upslope ramp of the low tunnel 4 and is connected with the second artery 2 in the same direction after a transition of a segment of turning upslope ramp 6. The underground U-turn location of the cross turning tunnel 5 is staggered from and does not interfere with the low tunnel 4. The height of the cross turning tunnel 5 enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is no less than 2 meters and no more than 3 meters, preferably 2.50-2.60 meters. A non-motor vehicle lane may be divided from the cross turning tunnel 5 for travel of non-motor vehicles. The motor vehicle lane and non-motor vehicle lane are partitioned duly.
Referring to Fig. 1, the ground road surface of the first artery 1 is divided by the low tunnels 4 into left and right ground surface lanes 7, 8 which are opposite in drive direction and intended for travel of large vehicles. The two ground surface lanes 7, 8 are connected on the central platform 3 to form U-turn lanes 9, 10 which are opposite in U turn direction and intended for U turn of large vehicles. The two U-turn lanes 9, 10 are located on left and right sides of a straight-on lane of the second artery 2 on the central platform 3 such that vehicles making U turn on the U-turn lanes 9, 10 do not interfere with vehicles running straight on the second artery 2.
A lane 11 turning to the outside edge of the second artery 2 is diverged from the outside edge of the travel direction of the ground road surface of the first artery 1. A lane 12 turning to the outside edge of the first artery 1 is diverged from the outside edge of the travel direction of the second artery 2.
The height of the low tunnel 4 enabling vehicles to pass therethrough can be completely constructed by digging a depth underground from the road surface, but in a preferred embodiment, the height of the low tunnel 4 enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is jointly constituted by a sink depth of a bottom road surface of the tunnel and a lift height of a road foundation on top of the tunnel, i.e., the central platform 3 above the low tunnels 4 slightly rises. Such semi-sink semi-lift tunnel structure further reduces the digging depth from the ground surface upon building the low tunnels 4, makes the construction easier, reduces the construction duration, cuts the construction costs, and facilitates movement and reconstruction of sewage. Pieces resulting from crushing of the original road surface, hard sand, soil and mud dug out may be blended into concrete and stirred evenly to fill in an under layer of the road surface rise location, whereby soil and mud dug out needn't be totally transported away, and an influence exerted by heavy-duty transport vehicles on traffic is reduced during construction.
If the height of the low tunnel 4 enabling the vehicles to pass therethrough is 2.50-2.60 meters, a total soil-digging depth is approximately 2.3 meters upon actual construction in combination with the semi-sink and semi-lift tunnel structure.
Likewise, although the height of the cross turning tunnel 5 enabling vehicles to pass therethrough can be completely constructed by digging a depth underground from the road surface, in a preferred embodiment, the height of the cross turning tunnel 5 enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is jointly constituted by a sink depth of a bottom road surface of the tunnel and a lift height of a road foundation on top of the tunnel. If the height of the cross turning tunnel 5 enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is 2.50-2.60 meters, a total soil-digging depth is approximately 2.3 meters upon actual construction in combination with the semi-sink and semi-lift tunnel structure.
To prevent a breakdown vehicle from obstructing the cross turning tunnel 5, a temporary parking area 16 is provided on an outside edge of the travel direction of the cross turning tunnel 5 in the present embodiment as shown in Fig. 2. The breakdown vehicle may be parked in the temporary parking area 16 to wait for trailer rescue.
As a further improvement, in the present embodiment the first artery is provided with an underground footway passage 14 and an escape door 15 is provided between the underground footway passage 14 and the underground U-turn location of the cross turning tunnel 5. When a traffic accident occurs in the cross turning tunnel 5, people in the cross turning tunnel 5 can escape through the escape door into the underground footway passage 14. A person is specially assigned to manage the escape door 15 to prevent pedestrians from opening the escape door 15 arbitrarily. The escape door 15 had better employ an anti-fire door meeting anti-fire and smoke-isolating standard.
In the present embodiment, an air ventilation window 17 is provided on the top of the underground footway passage 14, and an air ventilation window 18 is provided on the top of the cross turning tunnel 5. The air ventilation window 17 and air ventilation window 18 are right located at a greening belt at the center of the road and do not affect the travel of the vehicles. The air ventilation window 17 and air ventilation window 18 each may be provided with an exhaust fan.
In the present embodiment, in addition to the underground footway passage 14 provided at the first artery, an underground footway passage 13 is also provided at the second artery.
To prevent a flood of rainwater from flowing into the low tunnel 4 along the lanes, a raised rainwater isolating belt may be provided on the ground at an inlet and an outlet of the low tunnel 4. The rainwater isolating belt is structured as shown in Fig. 3, in a way that a base point is arranged at a location 60-80m ahead of the inlet of the low tunnel, then the road surface goes upslope from the base point a distance of about 15-20m with an elevation of 0.60-0.80m, then gets leveled with a distance 15-20m, and then goes downslope into the low tunnel 4. The underground footway passage 14 and the underground U-turn location of the cross turning tunnel 5 are right located below the 15-20-meter flat road segment.
To better block the rainwater from entering the low tunnel 4, a light-permeable canopy is provided at the inlet and outlet of the low tunnel 4 to effectively prevent the rainwater from affecting the low tunnel 4.
A main manner of passing through the crossroads structure according to the present embodiment is as follows: small vehicles running straight on the first artery 1 directly pass fast through the low tunnel, small vehicles running on the first artery 1 and intended to make a left-hand turn turn left through the cross turning tunnel 5 to the second artery 2, all vehicles on the first artery intended to make a U turn make a U turn through the U-turn lanes 9, 10 on the central platform 3. The above-mentioned vehicles occupy a majority of the traffic flow on the first artery 1 and they needn't be controlled with traffic lights. The remaining large-sized vehicles and small vehicles intended to make a U-turn on the first artery 1 need be controlled with traffic lights, but these vehicles are in a smaller number. As such, smooth traffic can be ensured on the first artery, more passing-through time signaled by green light can be yielded to the second artery 2 to reduce red light waiting duration on the second artery 2 so that the traffic on the second artery 2 gets smooth, and finally the traffic at the whole crossroads gets smoother and traffic jam issue caused by vehicles waiting for traffic lights is solved. In practical application, the artery with a larger traffic flow, particularly with a larger small vehicle traffic flow is taken as the first artery 1 of the present invention.
The above embodiment is intended for countries and regions requiring drives to drive on the right-hand side, but the present invention is also adapted for countries and regions requiring drivers to drive on the left-hand side. For example, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are turned horizontally by 180 degrees into an embodiment shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, which is an example adapted for left-hand side drive rule. The reference numbers in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 are identical with those in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 and denote the same structures and they will not be detailed here.

Claims

A municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue, comprising a first artery (1) and a second artery (2) which cross each other and each are bidirectional lanes, wherein ground road surfaces of the first artery (1) and the second artery (2) form at an intersection a central platform (3) sharing the ground road surface, the first artery (1) is provided with bidirectional low tunnels (4) passing underneath the central platform (3), the low tunnels (4) rise to the ground surface again after passing beneath the central platform (3), a cross turning tunnel (5) is diverged from an outside edge of a travel direction of the low tunnel (4), the cross turning tunnel (5) makes a U turn underground the front of an upslope ramp of the low tunnel (4) and is connected with the second artery (2) in the same travel direction after a transition of a segment of a turning upslope ramp (6), a lane (11) turning to an outside edge of the secondary artery (2) is diverged from an outside edge of the travel direction of the ground road surface of the first artery (1), and a lane (12) turning to an outside edge of the first artery (1) is diverged from the outside edge of the travel direction of the second artery (2), characterized in that the height of the low tunnels (4) enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is no less than 2 meters and no more than 3 meters and the ground road surface of the first artery (1) is divided by the low tunnels (4) into left and right ground surface lanes (7, 8) which are opposite in drive direction and intended for travel of large vehicles, the two left and right ground surface lanes (7, 8) being connected on the central platform (3) to form two U-turn lanes (9, 10) which are opposite in U turn direction and intended for U turn of large vehicles, the two U-turn lanes (9, 10) are located on left and right sides of a straight-on lane of the second artery (2) on the central platform (3), and a height of the cross turning tunnel (5) enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is no less than 2 meters and no more than 3 meters.
The municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to claim 1, characterized in that the height of the low tunnels (4) enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is in a range of 2.50-2.60 meters.
The municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the height of the low tunnels (4) enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is jointly constituted by a sink depth of a bottom road surface of the tunnel and a lift height of a road foundation on top of the tunnel.
The municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to claim 1, characterized in that the height of the cross turning tunnel (5) enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is in a range of 2.50-2.60 meters.
The municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that the height of the cross turning tunnel (5) enabling vehicles to pass therethrough is jointly constituted by a sink depth of a bottom road surface of the tunnel and a lift height of a road foundation on top of the tunnel.
The municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to claim 1, characterized in that the first artery is provided with an underground footway passage (14), and an escape door (15) is provided between the underground footway passage (14) and an underground U-turn location of the cross turning tunnel (5).
The municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to claim 6, characterized in that an air ventilation window (17) is provided on the top of the underground footway passage (14) of the first artery.
The municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to claim 1, characterized in that an air ventilation window (18) is provided on the top of the cross turning tunnel (5).
The municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to claim 1, characterized in that a temporary parking area (16) is provided on an outside edge of the travel direction of the cross turning tunnel (5).
The municipal crossroads structure for solving the traffic jam issue according to claim 1, characterized in that a raised rainwater isolating belt is provided on the ground at an inlet and an outlet of the low tunnel (4).