This paper presents findings of an investigation of the safety performance of culvert safety grates when installed on slopes as steep as 3:1, as recommended by the AASHTO Roadside Design Guide (RDG). LS-DYNA modeling was used to identify critical impact conditions for roadside culvert grates installed on 3:1 slopes. Two full-scale vehicle crash tests were conducted under the guidelines of NCHRP Report 350 on a 6.4- × 6.4-m (21-×21-ft) culvert safety grate installed on a 3:1 slope. The full-scale crash tests demonstrated that the AASHTO RDG recommended safety grates provide acceptable safety performance when installed on 3:1 slopes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
KohutekT. L., and RossH. E.Jr.Safety Treatment of Roadside Culverts on Low Volume Roads. Research Report 225-1. Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, 1979.
2.
RossH. E.Jr., HirschT. J., JacksonB.Jr., and SickingD. L.Safety Treatment of Roadside Cross-Drainage Structures. Research Report 280-1. Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, 1981.
3.
BeneficioD.Selection of Safety Treatments for Cross-Drainage Culverts. MS thesis. University of Nebraska–Lincoln, in press.
4.
RossH. E.Jr., SickingD. L., HirschT. J., CoonerH. D., NixonJ. F., FoxS. V., and DamonC. P.Safety Treatment of Roadside Drainage Structures. In Transportation Research Record 868, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1982, pp. 1–12.
5.
Transportation Research Circular 191: Recommended Procedures for Vehicle Crash testing of Highway Appurtenances.TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1978.
6.
BrydenJ. E.Evaluation of a Culvert-End Safety Grate. Report FHWA/ NY/RR-90/151. Engineering Research and Development Bureau, New York State Department of Transportation, Albany, 1990.
RossH. E.Jr., SickingD. L., ZimmerR. A., and MichieJ. D.NCHRP Report 350: Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features.TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1993.
9.
PolivkaK. A., ReidJ. D., SickingD. L., FallerR. K., BielenbergR.W. and RohdeJ. R.Performance Evaluation of Safety Grates for Cross-Drainage Culverts. Research Report TRP-03-196-07. Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, in progress.
