Crash-Tested Bridge Railings and Transitions for Wood Bridges – Phase I
REPORT NUMBER
TRP-03-429-20
AUTHORS
Jared Duren, Ronald Faller
PUBLICATION DATE
2020-07-15
ABSTRACT
In the past, many timber bridge railings, bridge railings for use on timber deck bridges, and approach guardrail transition systems to accompany these railings have been developed to meet different impact safety criteria. Through an extensive literature review, the design details of these systems were identified and organized. A survey was then developed and distributed to multiple government agencies and timber industry members to identify the desire for such bridge railing and
approach guardrail transition systems to be developed to meet current American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) impact safety criteria. The data provided from the survey was analyzed by a research team, and a list of 15 systems with accompanying approach guardrail transitions was created. This list prioritizes the bridge railing systems based upon the number of survey respondents requesting such a bridge railing system. Cost estimates for the development of each bridge railing system were also provided in order to proceed into Phase II of this research project.
KEYWORDS
Highway Safety, Crash Test, Roadside Safety Appurtenances, Compliance Test, Bridge Railings, Timber Bridges, Timber Railings, and Wood Railings