Negrón-Díaz, Elizabeth

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    Methodology for the evaluation of safety appurtenances for bridges on low speed rural roads
    (2009) Negrón-Díaz, Elizabeth; Figueroa-Medina, Alberto M.; College of Engineering; Colucci Ríos, Benjamín; Valdés Díaz, Didier; Department of Civil Engineering; Santiago, Wilma
    Bridges are vital elements of the transportation infrastructure. There are over 600,000 bridges in the United States and Puerto Rico, which are required to be inspected in accordance with the National Bridge Inspection Standards, and reported on the National Bridge Inventory. The inspection of bridges has concentrated primarily on the structural aspects of the bridge, leaving the traffic safety components on the bridge and its approaches as a secondary concern. This thesis presents a methodology for the inspection and evaluation of safety appurtenances on bridges located in low speed rural roads. The methodology consists of a detailed step by step process for the collection of field data, complemented with a series of inspection sheets. The data sheets are a reflection of the field inspection process, with the intent to ease and standardize the process. The information gathered in the data sheets is concentrated on three major areas: the safety appurtenances, the bridge, and the approach roadways. As part of the development of the inspection process, the elements that play a major role on the structural and functional adequacy of the safety appurtenances were identified, following an extensive review of the principal traffic safety and bridge inspection standards and guidelines developed by FHWA, AASHTO, and thirty three State DOTs. These factors are: the test level, the height, the post spacing, the lateral offset, the anchorage, the grading, and the length of need. Other criteria considered in the traffic safety evaluation of bridges are: the change in roadway width between the bridge and the approach road, the horizontal alignment, the bridge sight distance and the roadway clear zone. The product of the inspection process is a traffic safety feature rating for the safety inspection elements (bridge railing, transition, approach guardrail, and end treatment) and the identification of possible safety treatments for typical bridge safety related issues. A descriptive rating was developed to assess the compliance of the elements considered in the safety evaluation of the bridge with the established standards. A rating is assigned to each of the traffic safety features on the bridge and it consists of five categories: excellent, good, average, deficient, and not applicable. The safety rating is related to the bridge and the evaluation of the existing operational situation in the bridge, and serves as an indicator of the need to identify and implement potential safety treatments. The step by step inspection methodology developed in this thesis complements the process associated to Item 36 of the FHWA Recording and Coding Guide [1995], and can be used by transportation agencies in Puerto Rico and the United States to comply with the NBIS requirement that establishes the need for the proper safety evaluation and inspection of all highway bridges located on public roads.