Citation

Bronstad ME, Michie JD, Kimball CE. Transp. Res. Rec. 1981; 796: 9-14.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A retrofit modification has been developed for a current concrete parapet design that has a narrow walkway configuration to improve its safety performance with impacting vehicles. The retrofit was originally developed for and tested with subcompact and standard-sized automobiles; the successful results indicated that the design might also perform with heavier vehicles that weigh up to 40,000 lb (18,144 kg). An earlier paper covered the automobile tests performed with the original retrofit system. Reported here are findings from six vehicle crash tests performed with the retrofit system- four tests with the original design and two tests with a modified design necessitated when vehicle rollovers occurred during the test series. The modified retrofit system successfully redirected a 40,000-lb intercity bus that impacted at 56.3 mph (90.6 km/h) and a 14.5 deg. angle. In addition, it redirected a minicompact automobile that impacted at 58.1 mph (93.5 km/h) and an 18.8 deg. angle; the vehicle exhibited no tendency to wedge under the higher rail design. Tests were documented by using both vehicle accelerometers and high-speed photography.