NU-SAF-105 — Work Zone Traffic Control & Cone Standard

The Gate

non-negotiable

Traffic control goes up BEFORE anything else comes off the truck, and it is photographed before ground break. No photo, no work. No flaggers, no lane.

That gate already exists in NU-FLD-200 and NU-PPL-403 (Class C violation — 6 points). This document is what the gate actually means, so nobody has to guess.

Proof: traffic control setup photo — one per approach, showing signs and taper — before ground break, every site, every day → photo set / app (§8).

1 · The Three Things a Work Zone Has to Do

The test every setup passes

THE THREE THINGS

§1

Everything below is one of these three. If a setup does all three, it's right, even if the road doesn't match a picture on this page.

Tell the driver early. A driver who is surprised is a driver who is braking, swerving, or in the hole with the crew. Advance warning is the whole job.
Move the driver smoothly. A taper, not a wall. Cones that guide, not cones that ambush.
Put steel and empty space between traffic and men. The truck goes between the road and the crew. The buffer stays empty — no men, no gear, no spoils, ever.

2 · The Five Parts of Every Setup

In this order, in the direction traffic is traveling

THE FIVE PARTS

§2

Every zone, from a driveway pothole to a lane closure, is built out of these five parts in this order, in the direction traffic is traveling:

#	Part	What it is
1	Advance warning area	The signs. Tells drivers something is ahead, before they can see it.
2	Transition area (the taper)	The cone line that moves traffic over. Length set by the speed table in §3.
3	Buffer space	Empty. Between the end of the taper and the first man. Nobody and nothing in it. This is the crash space.
4	Work area	Where the crew, the machine, and the hole are. Coned on all sides.
5	Termination area	Downstream cones that release traffic back. Short — two cones and done on low-speed roads.

The part everybody skips is #3. The buffer is not wasted road. It is the distance a distracted driver needs to stop before he reaches a man. Crews park in it, stack pipe in it, and put a spoil pile in it — and it is the single most common way a work zone that "looks right" is wrong.

3 · The Numbers Table

taper length · cone spacing · cone count

Based on MUTCD Part 6 · standard 12-ft lane offset

THE NUMBERS

§3

[Confirm against GDOT standard details and county/client requirements before any GDOT or municipal project — flagged and unresolved since NU-QAL-600 Card 3.]

Posted speed	Taper length (L)	Cone spacing in taper	Cones in the taper	Buffer space (empty)	Advance sign spacing
20 mph	80 ft	20 ft	5	115 ft	100 ft apart
25 mph	105 ft	25 ft	6	155 ft	100 ft apart
30 mph	150 ft	30 ft	6	200 ft	250 ft apart
35 mph	205 ft	35 ft	7	250 ft	250 ft apart
40 mph	270 ft	40 ft	8	305 ft	250 ft apart
45 mph	540 ft	45 ft	13	360 ft	350 ft apart
50 mph	600 ft	50 ft	13	425 ft	350 ft apart
55 mph	660 ft	55 ft	13	495 ft	500 ft apart (rural)

Easy rules to remember in the field

Cone spacing in feet = the speed limit. 35 mph road, cones 35 ft apart in the taper. That's it.
Along the work area (not the taper), cones go at twice that spacing — 35 mph road, cones 70 ft apart down the side of the work.
Taper length under 45 mph: speed × speed ÷ 5. (35 × 35 ÷ 5 = 245 — close enough to 205 to be safe; when in doubt, longer.)
Taper length at 45 mph and up: 12 × speed. (45 → 540 ft.)
A shoulder taper is 1/3 of a full taper. A shifting taper is 1/2. Only a full lane closure needs the full L.

4 · Setup by Road Type

the four Nova sees

30 mph or less — the everyday setup

RESIDENTIAL STREET

§4.1

One "UTILITY WORK AHEAD" roll-up on each approach, 100–250 ft out.
Cone taper into the work area per §3.
Cones boxing the crew, the machine, and every open hole.
Driveways stay accessible, or the homeowner gets told to their face before the truck is in the way.
Spoils and gear stay out of the travel lane and out of the buffer.

35–45 mph · working the shoulder only

TWO-LANE ROAD — SHOULDER

§4.2

Advance warning signs at the §3 spacing for the posted speed — not "about where the last crew put them."
Shoulder taper (1/3 L) into the work.
Cone line the full length of the work, at twice the taper spacing.
Nothing in the travel lane. Not a cone, not a shovel, not a boot, not a spoil pile.
Shadow vehicle between traffic and the crew (§5).

Taking a lane — flaggers or nothing

TWO-LANE ROAD — TAKING A LANE

§4.3

Full advance sign series + full taper per §3.
FLAGGERS BOTH DIRECTIONS, with paddles and radios, in Class 3 apparel.
One-lane operation gets flaggers in radio contact with each other at all times — not line of sight, radio.

No certified flaggers on site = Nova does not take the lane. Reschedule, work the shoulder, or call the Supervisor. This is not a judgment call and it is not the crew lead's to override.

Proof: flagger names + cert status, if a lane was taken → DFR, that day (§8). Taking a lane without flaggers = Class C, and repeat = Final (NU-PPL-403).

Pedestrians never get improvised around

SIDEWALK OR PEDESTRIAN PATH AFFECTED

§4.4

Sidewalk closed = "SIDEWALK CLOSED" sign at the closure and pedestrian detour signs at the last point a person could cross. A sign at the closure only, with nothing upstream, forces people into the road at the worst possible spot.
The detour route has to be usable by a wheelchair and a stroller. If it isn't, it isn't a detour.
Never route pedestrians through the work area or into a live lane without a channelized, protected path.

5 · Cones Around Vehicles & Equipment

the setup crews get wrong most

Steel first, men second

VEHICLES & EQUIPMENT

§5

A parked truck, a rig, a mini-ex, or a hydrovac on or beside a live road is its own hazard — and it is also the crew's best protection if it's placed right.

5.1 · The shadow vehicle rule

The truck parks between traffic and the crew. Always. Steel first, men second.
Amber beacon on whenever the vehicle is in or beside a travel lane, day or night.
Front wheels turned away from the crew so a rear-end hit pushes the truck into the road, not into the men.
Nobody works, stands, eats, or stores gear on the traffic side of the vehicle.

5.2 · The Nova vehicle cone box (memorize this)

For any vehicle or machine parked in or beside a live lane:

Position	Cones
Upstream taper (approaching traffic sees this first)	Per the §3 table for the posted speed — minimum 5
Traffic-side, front corner of the vehicle	1, set out about 3 ft from the corner
Traffic-side, along the vehicle	1 every 20 ft (a 20-ft trailer gets one at each end and one in the middle)
Traffic-side, rear corner	1, set out about 3 ft
Downstream release	2

Typical counts, so a crew knows before they leave the yard

Situation	Cones needed
Truck parked in a residential street, 25 mph	10–12
Truck + equipment trailer, 35 mph shoulder	14–16
Rig set up for a bore, 35 mph shoulder	16–20
Truck on a 45 mph shoulder	20–24
Lane closure at 45 mph	26–30 plus flaggers

FINDING — the standard truck loadout is short. NU-PPL-403 sets the truck at 20 cones. That covers everything up to about a 40 mph shoulder. A 45 mph shoulder or any lane closure at 45+ needs more cones than a Nova truck currently carries. Either the loadout goes to 30 per truck, or every 45 mph job pulls cones off a second truck — and somebody has to decide which. See §9.

5.3 · Unattended vehicles and open excavations

An open hole is never left without cones. Plated, fenced, or coned — and if it stays open past the crew's day, it needs the Crew Lead's sign-off and hard protection (fence or plate, not cones alone).
A vehicle left on a shoulder overnight keeps its cone box and, on anything above 35 mph, gets delineators or a lighted device — not bare cones.

6 · Setting It Up & Taking It Down

the order matters

Always working WITH traffic, never against it

SETUP & TAKEDOWN ORDER

§6

6.1 · Setup — always working WITH traffic, never against it

	Step
1	Park the truck safely, beacon on, before anyone gets out.
2	Put the advance warning signs out FIRST, farthest from the work, working toward the work.
3	Set the taper, cone by cone, walking with traffic, facing the same direction traffic moves — never walking into oncoming traffic and never with your back to it.
4	Set the work-area cones and the downstream cones.
5	Count the cones and signs OUT LOUD and write the count on the Daily Truck Log.
6	Photograph the zone — one photo from each approach, showing signs and taper. That photo is the gate.
7	Only now does gear come off the truck.

6.2 · Takedown — reverse order, signs come out LAST

	Step
1	Pull the work-area and downstream cones first.
2	Pull the taper, working with traffic.
3	Advance warning signs come out last, so the public is warned the entire time men and cones are still in the road.
4	Count everything back IN against the morning count. Write it on the Daily Truck Log.
5	A missing cone gets found or gets logged. Cones don't evaporate. A short count that nobody wrote down is how a truck ends up with 11 cones on a 45 mph job.

6.3 · Apparel

Class 2 high-visibility vest minimum, all workers, all sites, always.
Class 3 for night work, for anything above 45 mph, and for every flagger.
Hard hat, safety glasses, boots, gloves per NU-SAF-102. A vest over a t-shirt in the road is not optional, and it is a 1-point standards miss.

6.4 · Night and low light

28" cones minimum everywhere; cones used at night need two retroreflective collars.
Lighted or reflectorized devices on the taper, not bare orange.
Work lights aimed at the work — never into oncoming traffic.
Class 3 apparel, no exceptions.

7 · When the Setup Doesn't Match Anything on This Page

Stop and call the Supervisor. Do not improvise a work zone.

THE THREE CALLS

§7

The three situations that always get a call:

A curve or a hill crest where a driver can't see the taper in time. The advance signs go before the curve, not in it.
An intersection inside the work zone. Traffic entering mid-zone never saw the advance signs — that needs its own signs on the side street.
Anything on a state route, a GDOT project, or a road above 45 mph. Those want a client-approved or engineer-stamped traffic control plan, not a crew's best judgment.

[Confirm GDOT requirements as part of the pending GDOT registration.]

8 · Proof & Records

what has to exist when this is done right

No record, it didn't happen

PROOF & RECORDS

§8

Record	Who	When	Where it goes
Traffic control setup photo — one per approach	Crew Lead	Before ground break, every site, every day	Photo set / app
Cone + sign count OUT and IN	Crew Lead	Setup and close	Daily Truck Log
JSA lists the road type and setup used	Crew Lead	Before ground break	JSA form
Flagger names + cert status, if a lane was taken	Crew Lead	That day	DFR
Any near-miss with traffic	Anyone	Same day	Incident record (NU-SAF-121)

Accountability tie-in (NU-PPL-403): cones/signs not counted back in = 1 pt (Class A). Traffic/safety zone not set before work in the road = 6 pts (Class C). Taking a lane without flaggers = Class C, and repeat = Final.

9 · What This Document Needs From Adam

open — unresolved

#1	The cone count decision. Go to 30 cones per truck, or write the rule that 45 mph+ work pulls a second truck's cones. Right now the loadout quietly doesn't cover the work Nova bids. (Recommendation: 30 per truck. Ten 28" cones is roughly $250–350 a truck — cheaper than one point of experience mod.)
#2	Name a certified flagger — or two. §4.3 says Nova doesn't take a lane without one, which today means Nova can't take a lane at all.
#3	Confirm the §3 numbers against GDOT standard details for anything state-route. This has been flagged since NU-QAL-600 Card 3 and is still open.
#4	Approve retiring NU-QAL-600 Card 3 so there is one traffic control standard, not two.