In Service Evaluation of Railroad Signal and Stop Arm Pole Protection

This study will address the need for providing steel beam guardrail to protect railroad poles. The proposed work is comprised of the following tasks: Task 1. Literature Review; Task 2. State-of-the-Practice Review; Task 3. Data Collection; Task 4. Statistical and Economic Analyses; and Task 5. Prepare Final Project Report. The goals of this study are: (1) Determine the crash rate into railroad poles without steel beam protection and compare to those with steel beam protection to determine if protecting against this hazard is actually reducing injuries; (2) Determine the benefit/cost ratio for protecting with steel beam guardrail or crash cushions given the crash rate per vehicle in relation to annual average daily traffic (AADT); (3) Determine what railroad pole designs are breakaway, if any, such that they are designed to safely break away during a crash and thus would not warrant protection; and (4) Survey State departments of transportation (DOTs) to determine best practices if a positive benefit/cost ratio is unattainable for a given AADT and the railroad pole is not breakaway.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Contract to Performing Organization has not yet been awarded. Addendum 621.

Language

  • English

Project

  • Status: Completed
  • Funding: $50000
  • Contract Numbers:

    Add 621

  • Sponsor Organizations:

    Iowa Department of Transportation

    800 Lincoln Way
    Ames, IA  United States  50010
  • Principal Investigators:

    Savolainen, Peter

  • Start Date: 20170701
  • Expected Completion Date: 20181231
  • Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01645866
  • Record Type: Research project
  • Source Agency: Iowa Department of Transportation
  • Contract Numbers: Add 621
  • Files: RIP, STATEDOT
  • Created Date: Sep 7 2017 4:15PM