NCHRP Report 350 Testing and Evaluation of NETC Bridge Rail Transitions

In two previous projects, the New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) developed and crash tested two steel bridge rail systems - a 2-Bar Curb-Mounted system and a 4-Bar Sidewalk-Mounted system. The NETC 2-Bar Curb-Mounted Bridge Rail was tested to Performance Level 2 (PL-2) in accordance with the AASHTO Guide Specifications for Bridge Railings and was effectively accepted as a NCHRP Report 350 Test Level 4 (TL-4) railing by FHWA Office of Highway Safety. The NETC 4-Bar Sidewalk-Mounted Bridge Rail met evaluation criteria for an NCHRP Report 350 traffic barrier at TL-4. The FHWA Office of Highway Safety Infrastructure has concluded that both bridge rails are acceptable as TL-4 designs and may be used on the National Highway System. The objective of the proposed research study was to qualify transitions to the two bridge rail systems and to a concrete end wall that is used as a component of several bridge rail systems. The NETC New Hampshire transition to the two-bar steel bridge rail successfully contained and redirected the pickup for TL-3 test conditions. All occupant risk values were acceptable. The NETC Massachusetts transition to the concrete end wall successfully contained and redirected both the pickup and the single unit truck for TL-4 test conditions. All occupant risk values were acceptable where applicable. This report presents the details of each installation tested, a description of the testing, and assessment of the tests.