Top-Mounted W-Beam Bridge Railing for Longitudinal Glulam Timber Decks Located on Low-Volume Roads
REPORT NUMBER
TRP-03-061-96
AUTHORS
Ronald Faller, Barry Rosson, Michael Fowler
PUBLICATION DATE
1996-09-01
ABSTRACT
A semi-rigid, top-mounted W-beam bridge railing was developed for sure on longitudinal timber deck bridges located on low-volume roads. The bridge rail consisted of a 12-gauge (2.66-mm) W-beam rail supported by W6x9 (W150x13.5) steel posts spaced 6-ft 3-in. (1,905-mm) on center. The posts were bolted to a steel plate which attached to the bridge deck surface.
The research study included one full-scale vehicle crash test with a 3/4-ton pickup truck impacting the bridge rail at a speed of 31.8 mph (51.2 km/hr) and at an angle of 25.2 degrees. The safety performance of the bridge railing was acceptable according to the Test Level 1 (TL-1) evaluation criteria described in the National Cooperative Highway Research Report No. 350, Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features.
KEYWORDS
Highway Safety, Roadside Safety, Guardrail, Longitudinal Glulam timber deck, W-beam, Bridge railing, Low-volume, Top-mounted, NCHRP-350, TL-1
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