Citation

Russell E, Melhem H, Morice R. J. Transp. Res. Forum 2001; 40(3): 79-89.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Transportation Research Forum)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Kansas has thousands of low-volume rural roads, the majority being unpaved with gravel or earth surface, and thousands of small bridges and culverts. Most of these structures are old and narrow with old style, massive concrete bridgerails and culvert headwalls. The bridges and culverts were built many years ago before any thought was given to "forgiving roadsides," and the concrete bridgerails and culvert headwalls are roadside obstacles that can contribute to serious crashes when vehicles stray from the roadway. A study was conducted by Kansas State University to analyze the crash risk to vehicles hitting these concrete structures. The researchers used the computer software program ROADSIDE to compare the probabilities and expected cost of crashes at bridge and culvert locations with bridgerails and headwalls versus the expected cost of crashes with bridgerails and culvert headwalls removed. It was concluded that the expected costs of these crashes were less with the concrete rails and headwalls removed for ditch depths of 2.4 m or less. A detailed discussion of the analysis and results is presented.