Testing of State Roadside Safety Systems Volume VIII: Appendix G - Crash Testing and Evaluation of the Single Slope Bridge Rail (FHWA-RD-98-043)

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 single slope 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 performance level 2 (PL-2) and National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 for test level 4 (TL-4). The first crash test involved a 2000-kg (4405-1b) pickup truck impacting the bridge rail at a nominal impact speed and angle of 100 km/h (62.2 mi/h) and 25 degrees. The bridge rail was judged to have performed satisfactorily in this test. The second crash test involved an 8172-kg (18 000-1b) single-unit truck impacting the bridge rail at a nominal impact speed and angle of 80.5 km/h (50 mi/h) and 15 degrees. The third test was a repeat of the second test because the impact angle in the second test was only 10 degrees instead of the required 15 degrees. The bridge rail was judged to have performed satisfactorily in both single-unit truck redirection tests.|This volume is the eighth in a series of 14 volumes for the final report. The other volumes in the series are: Volume I - Technical Report; Volume II, Appendix A - Crash Testing and Evaluation of a Michigan Thrie-Beam Transition Design;. Volume III, Appendix B - Crash Testing and Evaluation of a Guardrail System for Low-Fill Culvert; Volume IV, Appendix C - Crash Testing and Evaluation of a Pennsylvania Transition Design; Volume V, Appendix D - Crash Testing and Evaluation of a Washington, DC, PL-1 Bridge Rail; Volume VI, Appendix E - Crash Testing and Evaluation of a Modified Breakaway Cable Terminal (BCT) Design; Volume VII, Appendix F - Crash Testing and Evaluation of the Minnesota Swing-Away Mailbox Support; Volume IX, Appendix H - Crash Testing and Evaluation of the NETC PL-2 Bridge Rail Design; Volume X, Appendix I - Crash Testing and Evaluation of a Mini-MELT for a W-Beam, Weak-Post (G2) Guardrail System; Volume XI, Appendix J - Crash Testing and Evaluation of Existing Guardrail Systems; Volume XII, Appendix K - Crash Testing and Evaluation of the MELT; Volume XIII, Appendix L - Crash Testing and Evaluation of the Modified MELT; and Volume XIV, Appendix M - Laboratory. and Pendulum Testing of Modified Breakaway Wooden Posts.