Citation

Cantor C, Bloom J. Transp. Res. Rec. 1976; 566: 13-22.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1976, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Simplified criteria are derived for evaluating the capacity of a flexible bridge railing system to safely contain impacting vehicles ranging in size from subcompacts to heavy trucks. The evaluation is based on comparison of the static force versus deflection characteristic of the railing system with an associated integral characteristic that is easily obtained. The criteria have been applied to typical high-performance bridge railing designs such as the collapsing ring barrier and another hybrid barrier system. The barrier performance predicted by the simplified criteria agrees well with the dynamic results obtained from full-scale tests and computer simulations. The simplified criteria should prove valuable to the highway engineer in evaluating current and proposed designs of flexible bridge railings and in providing a guide to design improvements if required.