Metal Crash Barriers

By Debasish Mondal

Metal Crash barriers are basically Road safety system which prevents vehicles from colliding
with obstacles such as boulders, walls, buildings and also prevents vehicles entering into large
storm drains, steep slopes or deep water.

Features

 Crash barriers ensure minimum damage to the vehicle and its occupants.
 During collision the W beam absorbs maximum energy by flattening out and
laterally restrains the vehicle from veering over.
 Prevents the vehicle from skidding back onto the carriageway by controlled exit
angles by gradual deceleration and effective redirection of the vehicle back onto
the road.
 Provides a good visual guide to the drivers especially in the night.
 Enables quick repairs in case of accidents.
 All components are hot dip galvanized for longer life.

Applications

 As restraining barriers on embankments of Expressways & Highways.

 As containment barriers on medians and grade separators of four/six lane roads.
 As protection barriers/containment barriers for hilly terrains and ghat roads.
 As race car crash guards on car racing tracks.
 For interior traffic safety at Airports, Plants handling hazardous chemicals, mines,
collieries, etc.,
 As fencing barriers for country border lines, expanse lands, water bodies, bridge
piers, signposts, rocky areas etc.,

Classification of Traffic barriers:

 by the function they serve

 by how much they deflect when a vehicle crashes into them.

Roadside barriers are used to protect traffic from roadside obstacles or hazards, such as
slopes steep enough to cause rollover crashes, fixed objects like bridge piers, and bodies of
water. Roadside barriers can also be used with medians, to prevent vehicles from colliding with
hazards within the median.

Median barriers are used to prevent vehicles from crossing over a median and striking an
oncoming vehicle in a head-on crash. Unlike roadside barriers, they must be designed to be
struck from either side.

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Bridge barrier is designed to restrain vehicles from crashing off the side of a bridge and falling
onto the roadway, river or railroad below. It is usually higher than roadside barrier, to prevent
trucks, buses, pedestrians and cyclists from vaulting or rolling over the barrier and falling over the
side of the structure. Bridge rails are usually multi-rail tubular steel barriers or reinforced concrete
parapets and barriers.

Work zone barriers are used to protect traffic from hazards in work zones. Their distinguishing
feature is they can be relocated as conditions change in the road works. Two common types are
used: temporary concrete barrier and water-filled barrier. The latter is composed of steel-
reinforced plastic boxes that are put in place where needed, linked together to form a longitudinal
barrier, then ballasted with water. These have an advantage in that they can be assembled
without heavy lifting equipment, but they cannot be used in freezing weather.

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 Road Restraint Systems Technology and Definitions
Barrier stiffness:

Barriers are divided into three groups, based on the amount they deflect when struck by a vehicle
and the mechanism the barrier uses to resist the impact forces. In the United States, traffic
barriers are tested and classified according to the AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety
Hardware (MASH) standards, which recently superseded Federal Highway
Administration NCHRP Report 350. Barrier deflections listed below are results from crash
tests with a 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) pickup truck travelling 100 km/h (62 mph), colliding with the rail at
a 25 degree angle.

Flexible barriers include cable barriers and weak post corrugated guide rail systems. These are
referred to as flexible barriers because they will deflect 1.6 to 2.6 m (5.2 to 8.5 ft) when struck by
a typical passenger car or light truck. Impact energy is dissipated through tension in the rail
elements, deformation of the rail elements, posts, soil and vehicle bodywork, and friction
between the rail and vehicle. A typical figure is shown below.

Components of a standard guiderail (A-profile): S – Guardrail, D – Distance piece/spacer,

P – Sigma Post

Semi-rigid barriers include box beam guide rail, heavy post blocked out corrugated guide rail
and three-beam guide rail. Three-beam is similar to corrugated rail, but it has three ridges
instead of two. They deflect 3 to 6 feet (0.91 to 1.83 m): more than rigid barriers, but less than
flexible barriers. Impact energy is dissipated through deformation of the rail elements, posts, soil
and vehicle bodywork, and friction between the rail and vehicle. Box beam systems also spread
the impact force over a number of posts due to the stiffness of the steel tube.
Rigid barriers are usually constructed of reinforced concrete. A permanent concrete barrier will
only deflect a negligible amount when struck by a vehicle. Instead, the shape of a concrete
barrier is designed to redirect a vehicle into a path parallel to the barrier. This means they can be
used to protect traffic from hazards very close behind the barrier, and generally require very little
maintenance. Impact energy is dissipated through redirection and deformation of the vehicle
itself. Jersey barriers and F-shape barriers also lift the vehicle as the tires ride up on the angled
lower section. For low-speed or low-angle impacts on these barriers, that may be sufficient to
redirect the vehicle without damaging the bodywork. The disadvantage is there is a higher
likelihood of rollover with a small car than the single slope or step barriers. Impact forces are
resisted by a combination of the rigidity and mass of the barrier. Deflection is usually negligible.

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 Concrete Crash Barrier

Crash Barriers/ Metal beam crash barrier or precast concrete roadside barriers have been
proposed to be installed along the roadway edge on either side if road stretch falls under the
following category as per NHAI norms:

1. Embankment height >3 m.

2. Approaches of Underpass / Flyover /ROBS

Proposed Barrier Design Criteria: 0inment Level

Containment Level
Factored design forces CL-1 CL-2 CL-3
Transverse Load, FT, kN 40 60 120
Longitudinal Load, FL, kN 20 20 40
Vertical Load, FV, kN 20 20 20
Deflection, mm 350 130 100
Load Application Height, mm 500 500 510
Minimum Barrier Height 500 500 685

1. Minimum capacity of MNRO standard bridge barriers based on UBC testing documented in
“Experimental Evaluation of Concrete Decks with Guard Rail Systems”, April 2011. The
Ministry needs to confirm the magnitude of these forces through further study.
2. AASHTO LRFD specified design forces for TL-1 barrier.
3. AASHTO LRFD specified design forces for TL-2 barrier.
4. Further investigation may allow for the reduction of these loads by 40% to account for
dynamic amplification effects.
5. Height measured from travel surface, as shown in Figure -1

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 Figure -1.

As per IRC:6-2014 Cl no. 206.6 Crash barriers are designed to withstand the impact of vehicles
of certain weights while travelling at the specified speed. They are expected to guide the vehicle
back on the road while keeping the level of damage to vehicle as well as to the barriers within
acceptable limits.

Following are the three categories for different applications:

Category
P-1: Normal containment
P-2: Low containment
P-3: High containment
Application
Bridges carrying expressway
or equivalent
All other bridges except bridge
over railways
All hazardous and high risk
locations over busy railway
lines, complex interchanges,
etc.
Containment for
15KN vehicle at 110 KM/hr &
20deg. angle of impact
15KN vehicle at 80 KM/hr &
20deg. angle of impact
300KN vehicle at 60 KM/hr &
20deg. angle of impact

The barriers can be of rigid type using cast-in-situ / precast reinforced concrete panels or flexible
type constructed using metallic hot rolled or cold rolled sections. The metallic type, called semi-
rigid type, suffers large dynamic deflection of the order of 0.9m to 1.2m whereas the rigid type
suffers comparatively negligible deflection. The efficacy of the two types of barriers is established
on the basis of full size tests carried out by the laboratories specialised in such testing. Due to
complexities of the structural action, the value of the impact force cannot be quantified.

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Typical shapes and details of crash barriers and their locations are described in IRC:5-1998
Clause 115.4.3. These may be suitably modified and augmented depending on the
developments in design and future functional requirements in individual cases. Crash barriers
shall be of metal or reinforced concrete and their design shall take into consideration the
following factors:

i) Impact of vehicles colliding with the barrier.

ii) Safety of occupants of a vehicle colliding with the barrier.
iii) Safety of occupants of other vehicles near the collision site.
iv) Safety of vehicles or pedestrians underneath the bridge.
v) Aesthetics and freedom of view from passing vehicles.

Crash barriers shall provide a smooth and continuous face on the traffic side and shall be
suitably extended into the approaches. Exposed rail ends, posts and sharp changes in the
geometry of the railings shall be avoided. Suitable reflective (luminous) devices shall be provided
on the traffic face of the barrier at intervals to ensure adequate visibility during night and foggy
conditions. Steel crash barriers are generally used in low and normal containment applications.
Typical shapes and sizes of crash barriers over bridges are shown below which are taken from
IRC:5-1998.

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The metal crash barriers are manufactured in India as per the guidelines issued by MORTH as
well as AASHTO. All sections are cold rolled formed. Raw material grade Fe410/510 conforming
to ST42/IS5986 and hot dipped galvanised (550GSM minimum). The post spacing is 1.5 to 2m
centre to centre.
Some pictures of crash barriers are given below:

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 Metal Crash Barrier(W Beam)

Metal Crash Barrier(Thrie Beam)

Metal Crash Barrier Sections

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Components of Metal Crash Barriers
W Beams

 Cold roll formed in thickness of 3.00 mm/2.67 mm

 Raw material conforming to IS 5986 Grade:
Fe 360/ Fe 410/ Fe 510, IS 10748 Grade II or eqvt.
 Hot dip galvanized to 550 gms/sq.m

Posts & Spacer

 Cold roll formed in thickness of 5.00 mm/4.2 mm

 Raw material conforming to IS 5986 Grade:
Fe 360/Fe 410, IS 10748 Grade II or eqvt.
 Hot dip galvanized to 550 gms/sq.m.

End specials

 3 mm/2.67 mm thick turned down end terminals.

 3/2.67 mm thick press formed end terminals (Fish tail)
 3/2.67 mm U shaped terminals as median end terminals

Anchorage

 Anchored in ground as per Clause 810

 Anchored in concrete on shoulders (If specified)
 Anchored in concrete with base frame on bridges

Fasteners

 M20 and M16 fasteners as per IS 1367 Grade 4.6/8.8

 Hot dip galvanized

The approximate consumption of Steel as per IRC: 84-2014 is as follows:

a) W beam Type Crash Barrier 24 mt/Km

b)Thrie beam Type Crash Barrier(used for large 33 mt/Km
vehicle , high volume of high speed traffic)

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