TESTING OF STATE ROADSIDE SAFETY SYSTEMS. VOLUME III: APPENDIX B - CRASH TESTING AND EVALUATION OF A GUARDRAIL SYSTEM FOR LOW-FILL CULVERT

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 long-span nested W-beam guardrail designs for use over culverts. The first test (test no. 471470-2) was on a 3.81-m (12 ft-6 in) span design. The second test (test no. 471470-4) was on a 5.72-m (18 ft-9 in) span with a W-beam rail section on the rear of the guardrail. The third test (test no. 471470-5) was also on a 5.72-m (18 ft-9 in) span, but without a W-beam rail section on the rear of the guardrail. All three crash tests corresponded to NCHRP Report 230 test designation 10, involving a 2043-kg (4500-lb) passenger car impacting the guardrail at a nominal impact speed and angle of 96.5 km/h (60 mi/h) and 25 degrees. All three nested W-beam guardrail designs performed satisfactorily in the crash tests and met all evaluation criteria set forth in NCHRP Report 230. This volume is the third in a series of 14 volumes for the final report.