Study of the Soil-Structure Interaction Behavior of Highway Guardrail Posts

摘要

The Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation (SDHPT) currently uses two types of guardrail posts: (1) a circular wood post and (2) a steel W6x8.5 post. The current specifications require the steel post to be placed in a concrete footing. However, the concrete footing is not required for the wood post. Because of this requirement, the steel post guardrail systems are considered not as economical as the wood post guardrail systems. This research study was conducted to determine whether the concrete footings are required for the steel guardrail posts to perform satisfactorily as a traffic barrier system.