Concrete Safety Shape with Metal Rail on Top to Redirect 80,000 lb. Trucks

摘要

Several bridge rails have been designed recently which will restrain and redirect large trucks. Since the 32 in. (81 cm) high concrete safety shape is a popular median and bridge barrier, it was desirable to see if it could be modified to make an effective truck traffic rail. The factors involved in the design of bridge rails to contain and redirect large trucks are not nearly as well understood or researched as those involved in the design of passenger car rails. Therefore, it was the objective of the project to design, build, and test a bridge rail to contain and redirect an 80,000 lb (36,287 kg) van type tractor/trailer.