MwRSF has been involved in a limited number of in-service studies for cable or other barrier types. This type of analysis generally tends to be sensitive and not within the scope of funding of most state DOTs, proprietary companies, or the federal government. Thus, I can’t point to any other MwRSF research regarding cable barrier in-service; the closest I can get is TRP-03-265-12, “Test Matrices for Evaluating Cable Median Barriers Placed in V-Ditches”, which has simulated trajectories of various vehicles and may help to guide cable barrier placement in V-ditches.
Recently, however, there have been a number of studies regarding the performance evaluation of cable median barrier in various states:
- Florida DOT submitted a paper to TRB regarding CMB performance, indicating penetration rates as high as 18-20% (http://www.dot.state.fl.us/research-center/Completed_Proj/Summary_RD/FDOT-BDK80-977-19-sum.pdf, http://www.dot.state.fl.us/research-center/Completed_Proj/Summary_RD/FDOT-BDK80-977-19-rpt2.pdf, also TRB paper attached –should not be disclosed) that led to a moratorium on cable barrier construction (attached)
- TTI provided a cost-effectiveness and performance evaluation in 2009 (http://d2dtl5nnlpfr0r.cloudfront.net/tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-5609-1.pdf)
- One of the more quoted research reports in Washington in 2003, which really set the ball rolling for cable barriers (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/publications/fulltext/design/roadsidesafety/cablemedian.pdf)
- Malcom Ray conducted a limited survey in 2003 (attached)
- Auburn University prepared a rudimentary performance evaluation in Alabama (http://www.eng.auburn.edu/files/centers/hrc/IR-05-01.pdf)
- University of Tennessee conducted an in-service performance evaluation (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19439962.2013.812168#.VAhuEWNNiNI; if you would like additional resources, I can point you to additional papers)
None of the state DOT or independent researcher reviews was as extensive as the MwRSF research, but each does present a snapshot of the state of cable barrier performance in each state. I hope this helps with the consideration of cable barrier in-service performance evaluation studies.
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