Full-Scale Vehicular Crash Testing of Experimental Signs on Barricade Structures
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ABSTRACT
Twelve full-scale 1800 lb. vehicle crash tests were conducted to evaluate the breakaway safety performance of Experimental Signs on PVC Barricade Structures. These barricade structures were Type III breakaway barricades constructed of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe and have already been approved as being a standard breakaway barricade in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and by the Federal Highway Administration. Therefore, what was to be tested was four foot by four foot sign panels that the New Jersey Department of Transportation used to modify the Type III breakaway barricades which were extended to allow higher sign installations. It was upon these changes that these full-scale crash tests were conducted to determine if the modification still allowed breakaway barricades to function as necessary. The breakaway safety performance of the modified PVC breakaway barricades, in eleven of the twelve tests, were in compliance with the criteria in (a) "Recommended Procedures for Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Appurtenances," by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 230, 1981, and (b) "Standard Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway signs, Luminaires, and Traffic Signals," by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 1985.
KEYWORDS
Highway Safety, Roadside Safety, Crash Test, Sign Barricade, Breakaway, Type III, PVC, Roadside Appurtenances, NCHRP 230, Compliance Test