View Q&A

I am doing some research for a
story about our use of wood vs steel guardrail posts. DeWayne Jones has been
very helpful in answering my questions.

I have one other question that
perhaps someone else  should answer. And if that’s not you, will you
forward this to that person? Or if it is DeWayne, let me know and I will ask
him.

DeWayne provided me with
information that indicates steel posts initially cost higher, but they can be
recycled and they last longer. The labor to install steel posts is less and
crews are safer for that time savings by not being near traffic as long. With
the steel posts, One Call is not needed either, resulting in faster response
time.

With that said, I am wondering if
guardrails with steel posts are stronger and safer than guardrails with wood?
Are there any studies that show that?

Thank you!

We have done many studies that relate on some level to this topic over the years and did a TRB paper on it specifically last year.

I have attached several reports and papers related to this topic for your review. The TRR paper from last year on wood vs steel posts in the MGS probably has the most direct answers for you, but the others may be useful as well.

The file 'Wood vs Steel Posts.zip' (73.5 MB) is available for download at

http://dropbox.unl.edu/uploads/20140909/18aa46e220d62216/Wood%20vs%20Steel%20Posts.zip

for the next 14 days.

It will be removed after Tuesday, September  9, 2014.

Take a look at this information and contact me if you have any questions.