Surface Mounted Median Guardrail

Report Number(s): 0-7052-R1

Description: The test installation consisted of a weak-post, median W-beam guardrail system spanning 187 ft-7¼ inches (posts 5 through 63) before transitioning to a single-sided standard strong-post W-beam guardrail system and a guardrail end-terminal (posts 1 through 4 and 64 through 67) on each end of the installation. The total length of the installation was 239 ft-5 inches. The posts of the median guardrail were comprised of S3x5.7 steel welded to baseplate plates measuring 8×8×⅝ inch thick. The posts were spaced evenly at 37½ inches and were mounted onto an unreinforced 8-inch-thick concrete slab using Hilti HIT-RE500 V3 epoxy anchors. The concrete slab extended for 184 ft-0 inches onto which the 59 posts for the weak-post median guardrail were secured. Two standard W-beam rail elements were attached on each side of the S3x5.7 posts. A backer plate was placed between the post and the W-beam rail element on each side, except for the posts at the rail splice locations. The top of the rail was 31 inches above the top of the concrete slab. Each end of the weak-post median guardrail transitioned to standard strongpost W-beam guardrail and was terminated with an abbreviated, 4-post SoftStop® guardrail end terminal as anchorage for these tests only.

Test Level: 3

MASH Test Number: 3-10, 3-11

Proprietary/Non-proprietary: Non-proprietary

Pass/Fail: Pass

Evaluation: Testing + Engineering Analysis

Sponsor: Texas Department of Transportation