MEDIAN BARRIER TERMINALS AND MEDIAN TREATMENTS. VOLUME II: APPENDIXES B AND C. FINAL REPORT

Wider medians that do not require median barriers often contain isolated hazards such as bridge piers, large sign supports, and openings between twin bridge structures. The treatment of these hazards has varied considerably among the States with a large number of different designs. Based on a state-of-the-art review, the bullnose or closed barrier envelope around the hazard was selected as the most promising concept. A high-performance guardrail system, the modified thrie beam, was selected as the guardrail system for design/development in this project. This system has successfully contained both a 20,000-lb (9040 kg) school bus and a 32,000-lb (14,500 kg) intercity bus striking the barrier at 60 mi/h (95 km/h) and a 15-degree angle. A total of sixteen crash tests were conducted on bullnose designs using 1800-lb (800 kg) and 4000-lb (2000 kg) cars and a 5400-lb (2500 kg) pickup truck. These tests were conducted with the barrier installed in a representative ditch determined to be a typical depressed median. Thus, minimal site work is believed to be needed for application of the design to typical median cross section geometries. Results of the tests are promising; however, additional testing will be required to complete the evaluations of the final recommended design. Drawings of the installation are included in Appendix A of this report. This report (Volume II) contains full-scale test reports and a summary of the state-of-the-art review; Volume I contains a summary of the work conducted in this project (FHWA No. RD-88/004, Research Report and Appendix A).

• Corporate Authors:

  Southwest Research Institute

  6220 Culebra Road, P.O. Drawer 28510
  San Antonio, TX  United States  78228-0510

  Federal Highway Administration

  Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, 6300 Georgetown Pike
  McLean, VA  United States  22101
• Authors:
  • Bronstad, M E
  • Ray, M H
  • Mayer Jr, J B
  • Brauer, S K
• Publication Date: 1987-10

Media Info

• Pagination: 361 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash tests; Crashes; Guardrail terminals; Guardrails; Median barriers; Performance; State of the art studies; Structural design; Testing; Thrie beams
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00465674
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/RD-88/005, Rept No 06-7735-2
• Contract Numbers: DTFH61-83-C-00068
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 29 1988 12:00AM