Quantitative Method for Assessing the Level of Deterioration of round Wood Guardrail Posts

Abstract

This paper presents results of a study that developed a procedure for measuring the amount of deterioration damage of round wood guardrail posts. The guardrail posts used in the study were extracted from damaged guardrail installations in Ohio. A resistograph device was used to measure the resistance of a $\raisebox{1ex}{$1$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$16$}\right.$ in. drilling needle passing through the cross section of the guardrail posts. The deterioration damage levels of the posts ranged from severe to essentially undamaged. A data processing procedure was developed to convert the resistograph data into a quantitative damage score. Physical impact tests were then performed to correlate the damage score to the dynamic strength properties of the posts.