Development of a Temporary Concrete Barrier to Permanent Concrete Median Barrier Approach Transition
REPORT NUMBER
TRP-03-208-10
AUTHORS
Mitch Wiebelhaus, Ryan Terpsma, Karla Lechtenberg (Polivka), John Reid, Ronald Faller, Bob Bielenberg, John Rohde, Dean Sicking
PUBLICATION DATE
2010-07-15
ABSTRACT
The objective of this research was to design a transition from temporary concrete barriers to a permanent concrete barrier for median application. The researchers at Midwest Roadside Safety Facility utilized a combination of free standing and tied down Kansas Temporary Barriers and a dual nested thrie beam for the transition to the single slope permanent barrier as well as a transition cap.
Two full-scale vehicle crash tests were performed on the system. The first was with a 1/2-ton pickup truck which impacted the temporary barriers 56 3/8 in. (1,432 mm) upstream from the permanent barrier, at a speed and angle of 62.4 mph (100.7 km/h) and 24.7 degrees, respectively. The second crash test was performed also using a 1/2-ton truck which impacted the temporary barriers 54 ft - 6 3/4 in. (16.6 m) upstream from the permanent barrier, at a speed and angle of 62.2 mph (100.1 km/h) and 26.2 degrees, respectively. Both tests were conducted and reported in accordance with requirements specified in the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) and were determined to be acceptable according to the Test Level 3 (TL-3) evaluation criteria.
KEYWORDS
Highway Safety, Transition, Temporary Barrier, Single Slope Barrier, Work Zones, Longitudinal Barriers, Concrete Barriers, Median Barrier