Bridge Railing End Treatments at Intersecting Streets and Drives

Details

• Creators:
  Ross, Hayes E. ; Bligh, Roger P. ; Parnell, Christopher B.
• Corporate Creators:
  Texas Transportation Institute. Texas A&M University
• Corporate Contributors:
  Texas Department of Transportation ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Benefit Cost Analysis Bridges Crash Tests Gage (Rails) Guardrails Intersecting Preservation Radius Roads Roadway Safety Short Radius Treatment

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHW A TX-91/92-1263-lF
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Texas ; United States
• Edition:
  Final Report September 1990 - August 1992
• Corporate Publisher:
  Texas Transportation Institute. Texas A&M University
• Abstract:
  This study addressed the problem of bridge ends on primary roads that are near intersecting roads. At these sites, standard guardrail treatments for the bridge end cannot be used because of insufficient run-out length and, therefore, alternate treatments are needed. The study approach consisted of (a) a survey of typical sites to identify the nature of the problem, (b) design of preliminary short radius guardrail treatments ( c) a benefit/ cost analysis of available systems, plus proposed new short radius guardrail treatments that could potentially be used at these sites, (d) development and crash testing of a short radius guardrail treatment, and (e) identification of recommended solutions to the problem for various types of roadways. From the survey, key design parameters were identified. In the preliminary design phase, three short radius guardrail treatments were detailed, consisting of two 60 mph designs and a 45 mph design. One of the 60 mph designs used the standard W-beam and the other used the thrie beam. The 45 mph design used nested W-beams. The B/C analysis was applied to evaluate various safety treatment options in terms of site conditions and roadway type. From this analysis, recommended use guidelines for the various options were developed. A 60 mph short radius W-beam treatment was selected for further evaluation and development through full-scale crash testing. A nested W-beam system successfully passed all but one of the four tests selected as design impact conditions. In the failed test, a 4,500 lb vehicle impacting the center of the curved portion of rail at approximately 60 mph and 25 deg, rode under the guardrail. A new research project has been approved to test a 60 mph thrie-beam system which, it is believed, will satisfy all design impact conditions.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  0-1263
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7128a1cec133af2fd66b30ee3afd34a040573a07ccc85ab6a72ee8e70bdbafd1835d759a759895426b23dfe6374e9fb9fccbef51587a32e06611a370bac96bd3
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/80889/dot_80889_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 17.50 MB ]