00815821

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1743-12

http://scholar.google.com...nnis&publication_year=2001

The weak-post W-beam guardrail has been widely used in the Northeast for many decades. Weak-post guardrails are characterized by larger dynamic deflections in a collision and are considered more forgiving than other, stiffer barriers. Most states have experienced good performance with these barriers over the last several decades if adequate clear space is provided behind the barrier. Unfortunately, recent crash tests of the standard weak-post W-beam guardrail involving a 2000-kg pickup truck resulted in a series of unacceptable test results, including overriding and penetrating the guardrail. Design modifications to the weak-post W-beam guardrail were explored by using finite element simulations and full-scale crash tests. An improved version of the weak-post W-beam guardrail system was developed and tested, and this was found to satisfy the requirements of NCHRP Report 350 for Test Level 3.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1743, Hydrology, Hydraulics, and Water Quality; Roadside Safety Features.

English

p. 88-96

2001

Transportation Research Record

0309072018

Figures; Photos; References (17) ; Tables (3)

Computer models; Crash tests; Design; Finite element method; Guardrails; Improvements; Pickup trucks; Posts; Prototype tests

NCHRP Report 350

W beams

Design; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Aug 15 2001 12:00AM

• CHARACTERISTICS OF STORM-WATER RUNOFF FROM HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION SITES IN CALIFORNIA
• COMPLIANCE TESTING OF A BULLNOSE MEDIAN BARRIER SYSTEM: NCHRP REPORT 350
• CONSIDERATION OF STREAM MORPHOLOGY IN CULVERT AND BRIDGE DESIGN
• DEVELOPMENT OF TWO TEST LEVEL 2 BRIDGE RAILINGS AND TRANSITIONS FOR USE ON TRANSVERSE GLUE-LAMINATED BECK BRIDGES
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR MATERIALS ON SURFACE WATER AND GROUNDWATER: DETAILED EVALUATION OF WASTE-AMENDED HIGHWAY MATERIALS
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR MATERIALS ON SURFACE WATER AND GROUNDWATER: SCREENING AND EVALUATION METHODOLOGY
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF RUNOFF FROM HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR MATERIALS: PROJECT OVERVIEW
• ESTIMATION AND INTERNET-BASED DISSEMINATION OF EXTREME RAINFALL INFORMATION
• PERFORMANCE OF W-BEAM SPLICES
• RESULTS OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION LITTER MANAGEMENT PILOT STUDY
• SELECTION OF ROADSIDE SAFETY BARRIER CONTAINMENT LEVEL ACCORDING TO EUROPEAN UNION STANDARDS
• STEP-POOL MORPHOLOGY IN HIGH-GRADIENT COUNTERSUNK CULVERTS
• THREE-STRAND CABLE MEDIAN BARRIER IN NORTH CAROLINA: IN-SERVICE EVALUATION
• UNREPORTED COLLISIONS WITH POST-AND-BEAM GUARDRAILS IN CONNECTICUT, IOWA, AND NORTH CAROLINA
• W-BEAM GUARDRAIL ADJACENT TO A SLOPE
• WASHINGTON STATE CABLE MEDIAN BARRIER