Signs on Concrete Median Barriers (0-6646-1)

Concrete median barriers have been used throughout the state as permanent and temporary barriers for providing separation of traffic. Typically, these barriers are tested and considered crashworthy through crash testing according to National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 350 or American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Manual for Assessment of Safety Hardware. Due to space restrictions, a sign or a light pole is placed on top of such barriers. However, when signs or light poles are mounted on top of barriers, the crashworthiness of the system is not necessarily guaranteed. There is very limited research on how a combination of device and barrier would perform if impacted by an errant vehicle. Moreever, no full-scale crash tests have been performed to accurately identify the influence of attachments on vehicular deceleration. Therefore, there is a need to identify existing practices of placing hardware on top of median barriers, as well as defining the crashworthiness of such combinations. In this project, a survey of the practice of mounting hardware on top of barriers was performed Analytical, computer simulation, and testing tasks were conducted to define crashworthy hardware and placement guidelines. This research developed a design guidelines and a standard that could be incorporated into TxDOT standards and specifications.