Design and Full-Scale Testing of New MASH Test Level 4 (TL-4) Alaska 2-Tube Bridge Rail

The purpose of this project was to design and test a new Alaska multi-state 2-tube bridge rail meeting the safety-performance evaluation guidelines included in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH), Second Edition 2016. The new 2-tube bridge rail designed and tested for this project was crash tested in accordance with MASH Test Level 4 (TL-4). Three crash tests were performed. The new bridge rail is 38 in. tall from the top of asphalt overlay and anchors to a 10 in. high by 18 in. wide curb. The curb was cast on top of a 35 ¾ in. wide deck cantilever that varied in thickness from 6 in. at the extreme field side edge to 12 in. at the exterior girder element. The posts were spaced on 10 ft centers. The posts were anchored to the concrete curb and deck using four 7/8 in. diameter A449 anchor bolts. The two-tube rail elements consisted of two HSS7 × 5 × 3/8 tubular elements. The calculated strength of the design was 77 kip at a height of 30 in. The bridge rail was considered acceptable for strength as per the AASHTO Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Section 13 Bridge Design Specifications. A test specimen of the bridge rail was constructed and crash tested per MASH TL-4. The new two-tube bridge rail met all the performance requirements of MASH TL-4. Details of the design and testing of the new bridge rail are provided in this paper.