Performance Evaluation of Guardfence to Bridge Rail Transitions (0-4564-S)

In December 2001, the Design Division and Bridge Division of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) released a new standard for an approach guardfence to concrete bridge rail transition that complies with the testing requirements of NCHRP Report 350 for use on high-speed roadways. Because there are no national transition designs that have been developed and tested for lower-speed conditions, the same transition standard is typically applied to all roadways regardless of speed. However, the new thrie beam transition design represents a significant increase in installation cost and complexity over the previous design. Thus, it may be cost-prohibitive to require use ofthe new design on all roadways. The purpose of this research was to develop a transition that is suitable for use on lower-speed roadways that is less expensive and complex than the current highspeed design.