Compliance Crash Testing of the Caltrans Type 26 Bridge Rail

The Type 732SW bridge rail is an updated version of the Type 26 rail and was tested for compliance to the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH 09) as a part of this research project. The 732SW is a taller, stronger version of the Type 26 with a sidewalk. It comprises a sidewalk, vertical concrete wall, and steel handrail for pedestrians. The barrier tested was about 24 m (79 ft) long. Three crash tests were conducted under MASH 09. The results of Tests 3-11 and 2-10 were within the limits of the MASH 09 guidelines. The Type 732SW bridge rail is recommended for approval on California highways requiring TL-2 bridge rails with pedestrian traffic. Since it is symmetric, the Type 732SW is also recommended in locations where a reverse hit is possible.