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ABSTRACT

The New York State Department of Transportation’s (NYSDOT’s) box beam to Weak-Post W-beam transition system had not yet been evaluated to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ (AASHTO’s) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware, Second Edition (MASH 2016) safety performance criteria. For its continued use on the National Highway System, the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) conducted two full-scale crash tests on the box beam to weak-post W-beam transition system. The system consisted of 32-in. (813-mm) tall, 12-gauge (2.6-mm), W-beam, which decreased in height through a transition cover to match the box beam height of 27 in. (686 mm). Each box beam section measured 6 in. (152 mm) x 6 in. (152 mm) x 3/16 in. (5 mm) thick and was 215½ in. (5,474 mm) long. The box beam to weak-post W-beam transition was evaluated according to MASH 2016 test designation no. 3-21 with 5,139-lb (2,331-kg) and 5,165-lb (2,343-kg) pickup trucks for test nos. NYBWT-2 and NYBWT-3, respectively. In test no. NYBWT-2, the transition was impacted at a speed of 63.5 mph (102.2 km/h) and an impact angle of 25.1 degrees, resulting in moderate system and vehicle damage. The system in test no. NYBWT-3 was identical to test no. NYBWT-2, except the impact occurred in the reverse direction. In test no. NYBWT-3, the transition was impacted at a speed of 62.5 mph (100.5 km/h) and an impact angle of 25.7 degrees, resulting in moderate system and vehicle damage. Both tests successfully met all evaluation criteria in MASH 2016 for test designation no. 3-21. No impact testing was performed using test designation no. 3-20.

KEYWORDS

Highway Safety, Crash Test, Roadside Appurtenances, Compliance Test, MASH 2016, Box Beam, W-Beam, Weak Post, Transition. Compliance Test

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