MASH Test 3-10 on 31-Inch W-Beam Guardrail with Standard Offset Blocks

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) initiated a review of their guardrail standards based on the outcome of recent crash test results and a Federal Highway Administration technical memorandum pertaining to guardrail height. TxDOT expressed interest in the use of a generic 31-inch tall guardrail to provide enhanced containment capacity for light trucks. However, some concerns were expressed regarding the increased size of the blockout used in the Midwest Guardrail System (MGS). Consequently, TxDOT requested an evaluation of a 31-inch tall guardrail system that incorporates conventional 8-inch deep offset blocks. The test reported herein corresponds to American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) test 3-10. This is primarily a severity test that assesses risk of injury to the vehicle occupants. This test was considered to be the more critical of the two tests due to the potential for increased vehicle-post interaction resulting from decreasing the depth of the offset blocks from 12 in. to 8 in. The 31-inch W-beam guardrail with standard offset blocks met all required MASH performance criteria for test 3-10.

• Record URL:
  • http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/9-1002-4.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Project Title: Roadside Safety Device Crash Testing Program. Report Date: November 2010; Published: March 2011.
• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System, 3135 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135

  Texas Department of Transportation

  Research and Technology Implementation Office, P.O. Box 5080
  Austin, TX  United States  78763-5080

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Bligh, Roger P
  • Abu-Odeh, Akram Y
  • Menges, Wanda L
• Publication Date: 2011-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: Technical Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 76p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash tests; Design; Guardrails; Height
• Identifier Terms: AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware
• Uncontrolled Terms: Injury risk prediction; W beams
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Terminals and Facilities; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01339670
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/TX-11/9-1002-4, Report 9-1002-4
• Contract Numbers: Project 9-1002
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: May 12 2011 4:31PM