Development of Safe Impact Performance Vehicle Parapets for Bridges

摘要

In 1998 the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) published the first two parts ofrnStandard EN 1317 under the general title Road restraint system. The published sections specifiedrnthe requirements and methods for full-scale impact tests on safety barriers.rnThe safety barrier generally used in Finland on bridges, the standard vehicle parapet of the FinnishrnRoad Administration (Finnra), did not conform to the standard according to the arranged full-scalernimpact tests. Thus began the development process described in this article.rnThe new Finnish standard safety barriers to be used on bridges, Finnra H2 vehicle parapets, werernsuccessfully developed with the chosen method to adequately conform to Standard EN 1317. Therncosts of increasing the safety of vehicle parapets in Finland have been estimated as equaling thernsavings in accident costs.