FULL SCALE TESTS OF CONCRETE BRIDGE RAILS SUBJECTED TO AUTOMOBILE IMPACTS

DURING THE FIRST HALF OF 1955 THE CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS CONDUCTED A SERIES OF FULL SCALE TESTS OF CONCRETE BRIDGE BARRIER RAILS, A BARRIER RAIL AND CURB COMBINATION, AND BARRIER CURBS WITHOUT RAILS. THIS IS THE SECOND REPORT CONCERNING HIGHWAY BARRIER TESTS WHICH HAVE BEEN UNDERWAY SINCE 1953. THE PERFORMANCE OF CONCRETE BRIDGE RAILS AND BARRIER CURBS WHEN STRUCK BY CARS TRAVELING AT HIGH SPEEDS IS INVESTIGATED. ONE PHASE DEALS ONLY WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF FOUR TRIAL DESIGNS OF BRIDGE RAILS AND ONE TRIAL DESIGN OF A RAIL AND CURB COMBINATION, OTHERS DEAL WITH CURBS ONLY. THE RAIL AND CURB COMBINATION WAS USED ON THE SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION STREET INTERCHANGE AND SEVERAL OTHER STRUCTURES IN CALIFORNIA. ONLY TRIAL DESIGN 2 HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED IN CALIFORNIA. A SIMILAR RAIL IS IN PLACE ON THE SANTA MARIA RIVER BRIDGE ON CALIFORNIA ROUTE 1. THE FIRST PHASE OF THIS STUDY WAS MADE IN 1953 TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE ABILITIES OF SEVERAL TRIAL DESIGNS OF CURBING TO SERVE AS PHYSICAL BARRIERS OR DEFLECTORS TO CARS STRIKING THE CURB. THE COLLISION CAR WAS DRIVEN BY A TEST DRIVER AT RELATIVELY LOW SPEEDS, THE MAXIMUM SPEED ATTAINED WAS 45 MPH. THE MOST RECENT TESTS INCLUDE BRIDGE RAILING AND CURBING WHERE THE TEST CARS WERE OPERATED BY REMOTE RADIO CONTROL WITH SPEEDS BETWEEN 50 AND 60 MPH. WHEN COLLISIONS WERE DEVELOPED. COMPLETE ANALYSES AND CONCLUSIONS WILL BE MAD WHEN AN ANALYSIS AND A CORRELATION OF THE RESULTS FROM ALL THREE PHASES OF THIS PROGRAM ARE COMPLETED. IT IS NOT ASSUMED THAT THESE DATA ARE APPLICABLE TO STEEL GUARDRAILS.

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/35/35-019.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 35, pp 251-267, 10 FIG, 1 TAB, 4 PHOT, 4 REF. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • BEATON, J L
  • Ayre, R S
• Publication Date: 1956

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C., January 17-20, 1956
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 35
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Barriers (Roads); Bridge railings; Concrete; Curbs; High speed ground transportation; High speed vehicles; Impacts; Speed; Testing
• Uncontrolled Terms: Barriers
• Old TRIS Terms: Barrier curb; Concrete curbing
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00203567
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 15 1971 12:00AM