Analysis of the Impact Performance of Concrete Median Barrier Placed on or Adjacent to Slopes

Under this research effort, the performance of concrete median barrier placed on or adjacent to medians with 6H: 1 V cross slopes was investigated. The ability to place concrete median barrier on steeper cross slopes may permit placement of the barrier farther from the travelway. This, in turn, can reduce the frequency and possibly severity of median barrier crashes. Full-scale vehicular impact simulations were conducted for several impact scenarios associated with placement of concrete barrier on typical depressed median configurations. Simulations results indicated that the F-shape concrete barrier has a reasonable probability of acceptable impact performance when placed on slopes as steep as 6H:1V. However, since the finite element pickup truck model used in the simulation analyses has not been thorougly validated for encroachments across median slopes and ditches, it is recommended that one or more full-scale crash tests be conducted to verify simulation results.