Roundabout Mondsee in Upper Austria: A Case Study

Abstract

The first roundabouts as traffic engineering facilities were not built until the beginning of the 20th century, although there were islands in the middle of the streets and marketplaces long before that time. Even in Roman times, people admired the water fountains and statues in marketplaces. A long time ago in England there were also traffic islands as pedestrian oases and in France there were also the imposing buildings in the middle of market squares. However, it was only the "planning border" of all these objects that turned them into traffic roundabouts. The circular roadways at roundabouts are exposed to special traffic loads due to cornering, namely friction and shear stresses, and in smaller roundabouts (mini roundabouts) also torsional stresses (turning of tyres on the spot). Especially due to the high proportion of heavy traffic, damage to the asphalt pavement is often found, such as cracks, unevenness (indentations, ruts), etc. This article introduces the roundabout on the B 154 highway access and exit A1 Mondsee (Upper Austria). This roundabout was completed and opened to traffic in 2012. The photos of the roundabout's road pavement were taken by the author in 2020.