Crash Testing and Evaluation of the 12 ft Pinned F-Shape Temporary Barrier (405160-3-1)

During bridge replacement or repair operations, restrained temporary concrete barriers are often used to protect motorists from extreme drop-offs at the edge of bridge decks. There are a few restrained temporary concrete barrier designs that have been crash tested for this application. Among the existing designs, most require through the deck bolting, anchor bolts, or other restraining features. Such designs are usually difficult to install, inspect, and remove in the field. Furthermore, some of these designs result in significant damage to thin bridge decks. Under this project, a new restraining design that limits lateral deflections of F-shaped precast concrete barrier was developed through a program of finite element simulation analysis and full-scale vehicle crash testing. This design uses the pins to restrain the barriers in a manner that is easy to install, inspect, an remove. It also minimizes damage to bridge decks or concrete pavements and no through the deck bolting is required. The design uses steel pins which are simply dropped into inclined holes that pass through the toe of the barrier and continue a short depth into the bridge deck or concrete pavement underneath. The new F-shaped pinned-down barrier successfully passed NCHRP Report 350 Test Level 3 requirements. The maximum permanent and dynamic barrier deflections measured in the crash test were 5.76 inches (483 mm) and 11.52 inches (293 mm), respectively.