Rumble Strips and Rumble Stripes

Technical Advisories

Shoulder and Edge Line Rumble Strips (T 5040.39)

Figure 1 – Long Description

This image is comprised of two diagrams depicting the positioning for shoulder rumble strips and edgeline rumble strips. Note that the diagrams are not to scale. The legend is as follows: an arrow indicates the direction of travel, a series of parallel rectangles represent rumble strips, A equals offset, B equals length, C equals width, D equals depth, E equals spacing, and F equals bicycle gap.

Shoulder Rumble Strips

On the right of this diagram is the image of a two-lane roadway with each lane divided by a double yellow line and having white edgelines along the right side of each lane, dividing the lanes from shoulder areas. The rumble strips are depicted by a series of squares running parallel to and just beyond the white edgeline in the shoulder area. A vehicle in the northbound travel lane is positioned horizontally, with the front edge of the vehicle departing the roadway and running over the rumble strips. In the southbound lane, the rumble strips are broken up by a space that is measured as segment F, which is defined as a bicycle gap, or an area on the pavement that is lacking rumble strips to allow bicycles to safely traverse the edge line.

In the upper left of the diagram, a segment of the shoulder, rumble strips, and edge line is blown up to highlight several aspects of the configuration. Within this circular blowup is the white edge line and five rectangles representing individual rumble strips. The distance from the center of the edge line to the point where the edge striping begins, which is in the shoulder area, is labeled segment A and is defined as the offset. The distance from one edge of the rumble strip groove to the other as it runs perpendicular to the edge line is labeled as segment B and is defined as the rumble strip's length. The distance from one edge of the rumble strip to the other as it runs parallel to the roadway is labeled as segment C and is defined as the rumble strip's width. The distance from the center point of one rumble strip to the center point of the next as they run parallel to the edge line is labeled segment E and defined as the spacing.

The center three rectangles are bisected vertically, in parallel to the edge line, by segment a-a. An inset at the lower left of the diagram shows segment a-a as a ground-level or horizontal view of the rumble strips. It shows that segment D, depth, is the distance from the lowest point at the center of the cut in the pavement to the highest point (i.e., the road surface) of each rumple strip. Segment C, width, is the distance from one edge of the rumble strip groove (as it runs parallel to the edge line) to the other.

Edgeline Rumble Strips

Note: there is no "A" distance in this diagram.

Similar to the shoulder strip diagram, on the right of this diagram is the image of a two-lane roadway with each lane divided by a double yellow line and having white edgelines along the right side of each lane, dividing the lanes from shoulder areas. The rumble strips are depicted by a series of squares running on top of the white edgeline and running just over the line into the shoulder area. A vehicle in the northbound travel lane is positioned horizontally, with the front edge of the vehicle departing the roadway and running over the rumble strips. In the southbound lane, the rumble strips are broken up by a space that is measured as segment F, which is defined as a bicycle gap, or an area on the pavement that is lacking rumble strips to allow bicycles to safely traverse the edge line.

In the upper left of the diagram, a segment of the shoulder, rumble strips, and edge line is blown up to highlight several aspects of the configuration. Within this circular blowup is the white edge line and five rectangles representing individual rumble strips. The rumble strips are cut into the pavement at the point where the travel lane meets the edge line and extend perpendicular to the edge line, running over slightly into the shoulder area. This distance is labeled segment B, length. The distance from one edge of the rumble strip groove to the other as it runs parallel to the roadway is labeled segment C and is defined as the rumble strip's width. The distance from the center point of one rumble strip to the center point of the next as they run parallel to the edge line is labeled segment E and defined as the spacing.

The center three rectangles are bisected vertically, in parallel to the edge line, by segment a-a. An inset at the lower left of the diagram shows segment a-a as a ground-level or horizontal view of the rumble strips. It shows that segment D, depth, is the distance from the lowest point at the center of the cut in the pavement to the highest point (the road surface) of each rumple strip. Segment C, width, is the distance from one edge of the rumble strip groove (as it runs parallel to the edge line) to the other.

Return to Figure 1.