The end treatment tests are then conducted by having a vehicle strike the rail dead-on and also at an angle. The guardrail face test is used to determine if a car is directed back onto a roadway when it meets the rail. Safety professionals use certain criteria to determine if the system meets standards. You can click here to see more about Highway Guardrail Performance direct from the Federal Highway Administration The performance of the system is assessed through crash tests that are done in a controlled environment. So in this instance the guardrail is pushed through, much like the action of a gate opening.Ī guardrail system is always put through performance tests before it is actually installed along a roadway. When a car hits at an angle, the impact head may extrude the guardrail or gate out, allowing the vehicle to pass behind the guardrail. The end terminal functions in two ways if a vehicle hits head-on the impact head slides down the guardrail redirecting it away from the vehicle until the energy from the impact has dissipated and the vehicle has come to a stop. The end needs to be treated with some kind of energy absorbing treatment because the impact from a vehicle is absorbed and then slides down the rail. The end terminal is the starting and ending point of the guardrail and is also referred to as the end treatment.Its function is simple and always the same: to redirect a vehicle that runs into it back onto the roadway. The guardrail face is exactly what it sounds like the part that extends from the terminal along the road.But overall, the highway guardrail basically consists of two key parts the guardrail face and the end terminal. The end terminal and the anchoring system at the end terminal is just as important. Everything from the posts that are driven into the ground to the way the guardrail connects to the post is important and plays a part. Each piece serves a different purpose as part of the whole. The guardrail itself functions as an entire system rather than just stand-alone pieces. Obviously the size of the vehicle and the speed with which it hits the highway guardrail plays a part in how effective the guardrail is in slowing a vehicle.īefore guardrails are installed, engineers weigh all the potential factors to make sure that the placement works as well as possible in all conditions. Guardrails are not a 100% failsafe, but they do help. ![]() The guardrail can act in a myriad of ways from deflecting a vehicle back onto the road, slowing it down or stopping it, or in some cases just slowing it down enough and allowing it to proceed past the guardrail. They lessen the severity of a potential crash and make the roads safer. In these cases, striking a guardrail would be greatly preferable to striking the obstacles, so guardrails are usually installed. Utility poles, bridge piers and retaining walls are other obstacles. In certain places on any given stretch of road, the roadway might have steep embankments or side-slopes next to it, or even be lined with trees. Sometimes, however, that is not possible and that is where guardrails come in. ![]() If a car is running off the road for one reason or another, the best thing that can happen is for that car to come to rest unimpeded. The main purpose of a highway guardrail along the highway is to form a safety barrier to help protect a motorist who has drifted off the road. ![]() Did you ever give though to what that Highway Guardrail is actually doing?
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