THE BRIDGE ABUTMENT PROBLEM

Many fatal "accidents" occur when a motorcar strikes a bridge abutment. The most prevalent type of accident on the Interstate Highway System is the single-vehicle accident, in which the vehicle strikes a fixed roadside object or overturns. Currently the most effective protection is placing plastic barrels, partially filled with dry sand, in front of the impact surface. This is more effective than current guard rails. Many, if not most, bridge abutments do not even have quard rails. Further, it is recommended that the base of bridge abutments and central piers facing the roadway be of the same configuration as the General Motors bridge parapet, an adaptation of the New Jersey concrete median barrier. Current European practice uses pre-stressed and post-tensioned concrete beams or box units 600-700 feet long, thus allowing placing abutments over 100 feet from the right side of the roadway, and eliminating the center pier, even when 150-foot medians are provided.

• Corporate Authors:

  American Association for Automotive Medicine

  P.O. Box 222
  Morton Grove, IL  United States  60053
• Authors:
  • Campbell, H E
• Conference:
  • American Association for Auto Medicine Conference Proceedings
• Publication Date: 1970-10

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 200-211

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Beams; Bridge abutments; Bridge piers; Fatalities; Guardrails; Median barriers; Parapets; Prestressing; Single vehicle crashes
• Identifier Terms: Interstate Highway System
• Old TRIS Terms: Prestressed beams
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00080731
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Safety Council Safety Research Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 26 1975 12:00AM