Mash Test 3-10 on 31-Inch W-Beam Guardrail with Standard Offset Blocks (9-1002-4)

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) initiated a review of their guardrail standards based on the outcome of recent crash test results and a Federal Highway Administration technical memorandum pertaining to guardrail height. TxDOT expressed interest in the use of a generic 31-inch tall guardrail to provide enhanced containment capacity for light trucks. However, some concerns were expressed regarding the increased size of the blockout used in the Midwest Guardrail System (MGS). Consequently, TxDOT requested an evaluation of a 31-inch tall guardrail system that incorporates conventional 8-inch deep offset blocks. The test reported herein corresponds to American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) test 3-10. This is primarily a severity test that assesses risk of injury to the vehicle-post interaction resulting from decreasing the depth of the offset blocks from 12 inches to 8 inches. The 31-inch W-beam guardrail with standard offset blocks met all required MASH performance criteria for test 3-10.