Aesthetic Surface Treatments to Concrete Bridge Rails

Project Description

In response to local expectations and the traveling public, there is a national need for aesthetic improvement of typical highway features. Requests for barrier treatments and bridge rails that contribute to the overall aesthetic experience are increasing. This research assists owners in responding to design requests for aesthetic improvements to transportation systems. The primary objective of this research was to develop guidelines for the aesthetic surface treatment of concrete barriers. These guidelines are intended to address the impact performance of the barriers to help ensure that the potential for injury to motor vehicle occupants involved in run-off-road crashes is not adversely affected due to an aesthetic treatment. Variables in aesthetic surface treatment of concrete barriers include, but are not limited to, type of barrier and the depth, width, and shape of the relief or recess. Due to the number of these variables, it would be impractical from a cost standpoint to conduct a parametric investigation based solely on crash testing. However, such problems lend themselves to analysis and evaluation through computer simulation. Therefore, the research approach used to evaluate the effect of aesthetic surface treatments on the concrete barriers involved a combined program of finite element analysis (FEA) and full-scale crash testing.

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