Automating the updated grade severity rating system (GSRS) using the Visual Basic.net programming language

Truck crashes on steep downgrades due to excessive brake heating, resulting from brake applications to control speeding, are a continuing cause of concern for the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT). In 2016, WYDOT funded a project to update the existing Grade Severity Rating System. Furthermore, in 2020, WYDOT commissioned a research project to automate the updated version of the mathematical model through an interactive, intuitive, aesthetically appealing and user-friendly Visual Basic.net objected-oriented software to simplify the computation of the maximum safe descent speed on these downgrades based on the truck weight. The software provides functionality for both the continuous Slope and separate downgrade methods. The primary beneficiaries of this software will be the highway agencies who will be able to estimate the maximum safe speed of descent for trucks with various weight categories and hence produce Weight Specific Speed (WSS) signs for each downgrade or a multigrade section.

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1. The authors would like to acknowledge that this work is part of a funded project by the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT). All Figures, tables, and equations listed in this paper will be included in the final report at the conclusion of this study.

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2. Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2024).