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NEW HIGHWAY BARRIERS

COLLISION WITH FIXED OBJECTS ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT 30 PERCENT OF HIGHWAY FATALITIES IN NEW YORK STATE. FOR OVER SIX YEARS, THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING MODIFICATION OF EXISTING BARRIER DESIGNS AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW DESIGN. FIVE DESIGN CRITERIONS WERE ESTABLISHED: (1) THAT THE CRASHING VEHICLE SHOULD NOT GO THROUGH THE BARRIER, (2) THAT IT BE DECELERATED GRADUALLY ENOUGH FOR PASSENGERS TO SURVIVE THE IMPACT, (3) THAT THE CRASHING VEHICLE BE REDIRECTED AS NEARLY PARALLEL AS POSSIBLE TO NORMAL VEHICULAR MOVEMENT, TO MINIMIZE THE POSSIBILITY OF ACCIDENTS WITH OTHER VEHICLES, (4) THAT VEHICLE DAMAGE BE MINIMIZED, AND (5) THAT ECONOMICAL BARRIER CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE BE PROVIDED. A MAJOR TESTING PROGRAM WAS CONDUCTED WHICH INCLUDED 48 FULL-SCALE COLLISIONS BETWEEN STANDARD-SIZE PASSENGER CARS AND BARRIERS OF VARIOUS CONFIGURATIONS. COMPLETELY REVISED SPECIFICATIONS WERE DEVELOPED FOR HIGHWAY BARRIERS. NEW STANDARD GUIDE RAIL, MEDIAN BARRIER, AND BRIDGE RAILING BASED ON RESEARCH PERFORMED DURING THE PROJECT ARE NOW BEING INSTALLED. A NEW BARRIER DESIGN WAS DEVELOPED BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF STRONG BEAM/LIGHT POSTS. A RAIL SECTION OF CONSIDERABLE BEAM STRENGTH IS SUPPORTED BY RELATIVELY WEAK POSTS. SUCH A BARRIER DEFLECTS AND ABSORBS IMPACT FORCES WHILE DECELERATING AND DIRECTING THE VEHICLE. BY USING BOX BEAMS OF DIFFERENT STRENGTHS AND BY VARYING THE SPACING OF POSTS, BARRIER DEFLECTION CAN BE CONTROLLED, MAKING THIS TYPE OF BARRIER SUITABLE FOR A GUIDE RAIL, MEDIAN BARRIER, OR BRIDGE RAILING. SELECTION OF GUIDE RAILS AND MEDIAN BARRIERS SHOULD BE BASED UPON THE AMOUNT OF DEFLECTION THAT CAN BE TOLERATED IN ANY GIVEN SITUATION, INSURING THAT THE MINIMUM DEFLECTIONS WILL BE IMPOSED ON A COLLIDING VEHICLE.

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Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00203399
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Apr 21 1994 12:00AM