Project title: Roadside Safety Device Crash Testing Program

Test report; Sept. 2011-June 2012.PDFTech ReportFHWA/TX-12/9-1002-12-1Test Report No. 9-1002-12-1Bridge railingsBridge superstructuresBridge membersBridgesBarriers (Roads)Crash cushionsTraffic safetyHighway safetyTexasTexas Transportation InstituteWilliams, William F.Bligh, Roger P.Menges, Wanda L.Texas Transportation Institute. Proving GroundTexas. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Technology Implementation OfficeUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Bridges and StructuresNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Highway SafetyUS Transportation CollectionTexas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) currently uses the TxDOT Type T101RC Bridge Rail,a steel post and beam bridge rail anchored to the top of concrete curbs. The T101RC Bridge Rail is27 inches in height and can be anchored to the top of concrete curbs of varying heights. The heights of theposts and the number of bridge rail elements vary depending on the height of the concrete curb. The postsare anchored to the curb using four adhesive anchors.Based on crash testing of similar rail designs of the same height, the researchers believed that theTxDOT Type T101RC Bridge Rail would not meet the American Association of State Highway andTransportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) Test Level 3 (TL-3)criteria. The purpose of this portion of the project was to design and crash test a modified design of theTxDOT T101RC Bridge Rail that would meet the strength and safety performance criteria for TL-3 ofMASH. A new bridge rail was developed and tested for this project.The TxDOT T131RC Bridge Rail met all the strength and safety performance criteria of MASH. Thisbridge rail is recommended for implementation on new or retrofit railing applications