UPGRADING SAFETY PERFORMANCE IN RETROFITTING TRAFFIC RAILING SYSTEMS

From bridge rail information of 51 State highway agencies and personal interviews with five selected highway agencies, current state-of-the-art of bridge railing safety performance was assessed. Based on the analysis of 14 specific railing designs, an estimated assessment of the performance of bridge rails on a national scale is presented. The data indicates that a significant percentage of existing railings may be below currently attainable safety performance standards. Bridge railing designs are grouped into four categories according to profile geometry and features that are amenable to a common retrofit design. Two categories, II and III, represent about 82 percent of existing installations. Five retrofit designs for Categories II and III were developed and evaluated by a 22-crash test program. Although not crash-test evaluated, an improved approach guardrail design features a thrie beam rail element and a breakaway cable terminal. /Author/

• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/67450
• Corporate Authors:

  Southwest Research Institute

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

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Michie, J D
  • Bronstad, M E
• Publication Date: 1976-9

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 129 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Breakaway supports; Bridge railings; Cables; Crashworthiness; Fees; Highway safety; Modernization; Performance; Retrofitting; State of the art studies
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00178333
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-RD-77- 40 Final Rpt., HS-022 767, FCP 31G2-054
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FH-11-8100
• Files: HSL, NTL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 29 1978 12:00AM