Laboratory Testing of Recycled Materials in Roadside Safety Devices

摘要

This report summarizes the second phase of a three-phase project intended toevaluate the use of recycled materials in roadside safety devices. In the second phase of this project, those products lacking the desired data were evaluated to make a conclusive decision regarding their suitability for implementation. To date, 17 recycled material manufacturers having one or more products with potential application in the areas of interest have agreed to collaborate with Texas Transportation Institute on this study. Full-scale product specimens were obtained in order to account for size effects and the non-homogeneous nature of the materials. Received materials and products were sorted according to their potential uses for roadside safety applications. After the classification, the testing focused primarily on the applications of guardrail posts, guardrail offset blocks, and sign supports, which were all identified in Phase I as applications with high potential which lacked suitable recycled alternatives.