Placement of Traffic Barriers on Roadside and Median Slopes

In the 1970s, an analysis of barriers placed on slopes indicated that most guardrails do not perform well when placed on 1:6 or steeper slopes. Since that time, the vehicle fleet has changed dramatically, with the popularity of light trucks and sport utility vehicles increasing dramatically. Further, there has been a significant change in the design of roadside barriers in recent decades. High-tension cable barriers are beginning to gain widespread acceptance, and there have been changes to the traditional W-beam barriers. It is unclear how these changes affect the behavior of longitudinal barriers placed on slopes. Information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database indicates that some cross-median crashes have occurred where median barriers were in place. Further, a full-scale crash test has shown that a passenger vehicle can penetrate a cable barrier on the back-slope of a depressed median. With the dramatic increase in use of barriers in depressed medians, a more detailed study of the performance of barriers in depressed medians is needed to achieve acceptable safety performance. The scope of this study does not include barrier terminals. The objective of this project is to produce comprehensive recommendations for placement of barriers on roadside and median slopes. The guidelines should address all of the common types of barriers used in the United States.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=695
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $79843.00
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 22-22

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 225
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Project Managers:

  Derr, B

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas A&M Research Foundation, College Station

  Texas A&M University
  College Station, TX  United States  77843
• Principal Investigators:

  Bligh, Roger

• Start Date: 20050801
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20100612
• Source Data: RiP Project 11208

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash tests; Cross sections; Guardrails; Guidelines; Median barriers; Roadside structures; Slopes
• Identifier Terms: Fatality Analysis Reporting System
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01548860
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Cooperative Highway Research Program
• Contract Numbers: Project 22-22
• Files: RIP
• Created Date: Dec 28 2014 1:00AM