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Title:

Maximum Mounting Height for Midwest Guardrail System (MGS)

Accession Number:

01630170

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

Guardrail heights play a crucial role in the way that errant vehicles interact with roadside barriers. Low rail heights increase the propensity of vehicle rollover and override, while excessively-tall rails promote underride. Further, rail mounting heights and post embedment depths may be altered by variations in roadside terrain. An increased guardrail height may be desirable to accommodate construction tolerances, soil erosion, frost heave, and future roadway overlays. The acceptable range of rail mounting heights should be known to ensure containment and safe vehicle redirection during impact events. A research investigation was performed to evaluate the safety performance of increased mounting heights for the standard 31-in. tall, Midwest Guardrail System (MGS) through crash testing and computer simulation. Two full-scale crash tests with 1100C small passenger cars were performed on the MGS but with top-rail mounting heights of 34 in. and 36 in. Both system heights satisfied the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) Test Level 3 (TL-3) evaluation criteria for test designation no. 3-10. Test results were then used to calibrate computer simulation models. A mounting height of 36 in. was determined to be the maximum guardrail height that would safety contain and redirect 1100C vehicles and not allow underride or excessive vehicle snag on support posts. Recommendations were also provided regarding the safety performance of the increased-height MGS.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFB20 Standing Committee on Roadside Safety Design.

Monograph Accession #:

01618707

Report/Paper Numbers:

17-03364

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Julin, Ramen D
Pajouh, Mojdeh Asadollahi
Stolle, Cody S
Reid, John D
Faller, Ronald K

Pagination:

18p

Publication Date:

2017

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

Figures; References; Tables

Identifier Terms:

Midwest Guardrail System

Subject Areas:

Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2017 Paper #17-03364

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Dec 8 2016 11:16AM