Impact Performance Assessment of Roadside Safety Appurtenances

Project Description

Guidelines for testing and evaluating the impact performance of roadside safety features are periodically updated to stay current with improvements in technology and changes in the vehicle fleet and impact conditions. NCHRP Report 350, which contains current recommendations for testing and evaluating roadside safety devices, was published in 1993. Research is currently being conducted under NCHRP Project 22-14(2) to update Report 350. Changes being proposed for incorporation into the new guidelines include new design test vehicles, revised test matrices, and revised impact conditions. These changes will likely necessitate the re-evaluation of the impact performance of some existing roadside features. The purpose of this research project is to assist TxDOT in developing a prioritization scheme for testing and evaluation of roadside safety features in accordance with the new impact performance guidelines. Categories of roadside appurtenances being investigated include but are not necessarily limited to longitudinal barriers (e.g., guard fence, median barriers, and bridge rails), crash cushions and attenuators, breakaway supports (e.g., mailboxes, sign supports, and luminaire poles), work zone or temporary barriers, and work zone traffic control devices. Existing crash test results, engineering analyses, computer simulation, and crash data analysis may be used to assist with the hardware evaluation and prioritization.

Project Publications

Initial Assessment of Compliance of Texas Roadside Safety Hardware with Proposed Update to NCHRP Report 350 0-5526-1

Impact Performance Assessment of Roadside Safety Appurtenances 0-5526-S

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