Testing and Evaluation of Recycled Materials in Roadside Safety Devices (1458-3)

This report summarizes the third phase of a three-phase research program intended to evaluate the use of recycled materials in roadside safety devices. In the first phase of the study, information regarding recycled material manufacturers and their products was acquired through a literature review. The information received was categorized into two areas: (1) commercially available roadside safety products and traffic control devices having the potential for immediate implementation, and (2) other products and materials not specifically designed for use in roadside safety devices but having the possibility of use in such applications.|In the second phase of this study, researchers used a series of static and dynamic laboratory tests to further evaluate those products lacking the desired data to make conclusive decisions regarding their suitability for implementation. Tests of conventional materials commonly used in nationally approved roadside safety devices provided baseline performance data. For those products displaying inadequate performance when compared to baseline performance, necessary improvements were made. The Phase II test data were used to prioritize and select the most promising recycled materials and products for further investigation of their impact performance under Phase III of this study.|Phase III consists of full-scale crash testing of selected products to validate laboratory results and verify their crashworthiness. The research team evaluated three products for use as temporary sign supports. Another product was evaluated for use as guardrail posts and offset blocks in strong post W-beam guardrail systems. Descriptions of the test installations, results of the full-scale crash tests, and conclusions regarding impact performance are summarized in this report.