Development of a MASH TL-3 Median Barrier Gate

Median barriers are commonly used to separate opposing lanes of traffic on divided highways and to separate managed lanes from general purpose lanes. Concrete median barriers (CMBs) are often preferred on urban freeways with narrow medians due to their minimal deflection and low maintenance. However, long, continuous runs of CMBs limit access of emergency and maintenance vehicles to the other side of a roadway or a managed lane. Implementation of crashworthy median barrier gates at these locations can maintain the desired level of median protection for motorists while offering improved cross-median access for emergency and/or maintenance vehicles. A new median barrier gate was developed and crash tested under this project. The gate spans a 30-ft opening in a concrete median barrier and consists of two vertically stacked 12-inch × 12-inch × ¼-inch steel tubes connected to steel end brackets with 2¼-inch diameter steel pins. The gate is economical to fabricate and install. It can be manually operated by a single person and is designed to accommodate reversible traffic flow on both sides of the median and be operable in both directions on each end. The median barrier gate satisfies MASH Test Level 3 (TL-3) impact performance criteria and is considered suitable for implementation on Texas highways where cross-median access is desired.

• Record URL:
  http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/9-1002-2.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Project Title: Roadside Safety Device Crash Testing Program. Report Date: February 2011; Published: June 2011. The crash testing was performed at the TTI Proving Ground, 3100 SH 47, Building 7091, Bryan, TX 77807.
• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System, 3135 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135

  Texas Department of Transportation

  Research and Technology Implementation Office, P.O. Box 5080
  Austin, TX  United States  78763-5080

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Bligh, Roger P
  • Arrington, Dusty R
  • Sheikh, Nauman M
  • Silvestri, Chiara
  • Menges, Wanda L
• Publication Date: 2011-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: Technical/Test Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 170p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Access; Cost effectiveness; Crash tests; Emergency vehicles; Gates; Maintenance equipment; Median barriers
• Identifier Terms: AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware
• Uncontrolled Terms: Cross median access; Maintenance vehicles
• Geographic Terms: Texas
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01344047
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/TX-11/9-1002-2, Test Report 9-1002-2
• Contract Numbers: Project 9-1002
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 13 2011 8:29AM