Austroads is currently undertaking a project to update the guidelines on selecting and designing bridge barriers. This project will verify the compliance of the Austroads Standardised Bridge Barrier Design guidelines against the relevant Australian Standards, and the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). The outcomes of the project are expected to improve bridge barrier design and maintenance practice and achieve consistency and cost savings.
The updated guidelines, a supporting research report and webinar are expected in 2024.
World-first bridge barrier crash test
In July 2023, Austroads conducted testing which involved crashing a 36-tonne truck, a sports utility vehicle, and a small passenger car into a medium performance level bridge barrier. This design is the most common type of bridge barrier across Australia and New Zealand. The tests results will confirm if the structural performance of this bridge barrier design meets the requirements of the Australian Standards, and the AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware.
Austroads’ crash test was a world first as it involved a 90 km/h test speed for the articulated truck compared to the 80km/h test speed required for the AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware test.
The AASHTO MASH was published in 2009. It introduced a new way of testing and evaluating safety hardware on US highways. Since 2018, Austroads has progressively transitioned to MASH tested products. No bridge barrier in the world was tested against these modified MASH requirements prior to this crash test.
Equitable testing
Vehicle crash testing typically uses a test dummy that approximates the size and weight of a man. The sports utility vehicle crash test involved using two test dummies – one the weight and size of a small adult woman and the other the size and weight of a small child. This was also world-first test providing data on the potential impacts of high-speed crashes into a bridge barrier for these types of vehicle users.