TESTING OF STATE ROADSIDE SAFETY SYSTEMS. VOLUME V: APPENDIX D - CRASH TESTING AND EVALUATION OF A WASHINGTON, DC, PL-1 BRIDGE RAIL

The purpose of this study is to crash test and evaluate new or modified roadside safety hardware and, where necessary, redesign the devices to improve their impact performance. The three major areas addressed in this study are the impact performance of bridge railings, transitions from guardrails to bridge railings, and end treatments for guardrails and median barriers. This report presents the results of three crash tests conducted on a new Washington, DC historic bridge railing design in accordance with guidelines set forth in the 1989 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Guide Specifications on Bridge Railings for a performance level 1 (PL-1) and National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 230. The original bridge rail design was crash tested in the first test (test no. 471470-6) with an 817-kg (1800-lb) passenger car impacting the bridge rail at a nominal impact speed and angle of 80.5 km/h (50 mi/h) and 20 degrees. The original bridge rail design failed to perform satisfactorily. The bridge rail design was then modified and crash tested. The second crash test (test no. 471470-8) was a repeat of the first test on the modified bridge rail design, involving an 817-kg (1800-lb) passenger car impacting the bridge rail at a nominal impact speed and angle of 80.5 km/h (50 mi/h) and 20 degrees. The third test (test no. 471470-9) involved a 2452-kg (5400-lb) pickup truck impacting the bridge at a nominal impact speed and angle of 72.5 km/h (45 mi/h) and 20 degrees. The modified bridge rail design was judged to have performed satisfactorily in both tests. This volume is the fifth in a series of 14 volumes for the final report.