Development of an NCHRP Report 350 TL-3 New Jersey Shape 50-inch Portable Concrete Barrier

For roadside work-zones in areas that have opposing traffic flow, safety is enhanced if the temporary barriers incorporate a "glare-shield" that blocks headlight glare from opposing traffic. Currently-available 32-in. portable concrete barriers require the use of an add-on glare shield attached to the top of the barrier. The add-on glare shields are an extra expense and complicate barrier set-up and handling. An alternative solution was to develop a 50-in. high portable concrete barrier which is tall enough to serve as its own glare-shield. Finite element analysis was used to investigate various barrier shapes and connection schemes to identify a successful crashworthy design that would meet requirements of National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 Test level 3. A 50-in. portable concrete barrier design was developed based on the results of the finite element analyses and was crash tested at the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, Ohio. The system successfully met all safety criteria of NCHRP Report 350 and has been approved by the Federal Highway Administration for use on the National Highway System as a test level 3 device.

• Record URL:
  http://digitalarchive.oclc.org/request?id%3Doclcnum%3A70804893
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Battelle Memorial Institute

  505 King Avenue
  Columbus, OH  United States  43201

  Ohio Department of Transportation

  1980 West Broad Street
  Columbus, OH  United States  43223

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Kennedy Jr, James C
  • Plaxico, Chuck A
  • Miele, Charles R
• Publication Date: 2006-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: v.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Anti glare screens; Barriers (Roads); Crash tests; Crashworthiness; Finite element method; Shape; Temporary barriers; Traffic flow; Traffic safety; Work zone traffic control; Work zones
• Identifier Terms: NCHRP Report 350
• Geographic Terms: Ohio
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01031586
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/OH-2006/16
• Contract Numbers: 134162
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 23 2006 4:06PM