NCHRP Report 350 - onlinepubs.trb.org

1 National Cooperative Highway Research ProgramNCHRP Report 350 Recommended Procedures for theSafety performance Evaluationof Highway FeaturesTransportation Research BoardNational Research CouncilTRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 1992 OFFICERSC hairman: William W. Millar, Executive Director, Port Authority of Allegheny County, PennsylvaniaVice Chairman: A. Ray Chamberlain, Executive Director, Colorado Department of TransportationExecutive Director: Thomas B. Deen, Transportation Research BoardMEMBERSMICHAEL ACOTT, President, National Asphalt Pavement Association (ex officio)ROY A. ALLEN, Vice President, Research and Test Department, Association of American Railroads (ex officio)MARION C. BLAKEY, National Highway Traffic safety Administrator, Department of Transportation (ex officio)GILBERT E. CARMICHAEL, Federal Railroad Administrator, Department of Transportation (ex officio)BRIAN W.

2 CLYMER, Federal Transit Administrator, Department of Transportation (ex officio)FRANCIS B. FRANCOIS, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (ex officio)JACK R. GILSTRAP, Executive Vice President, American Public Transit Association (ex officio)DOUGLAS B. HAM, Research and Special Programs Acting Administrator, Department of Transportation (ex officio)THOMAS H. HANNA, President and Chief Executive Officer, Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association of the United States, Inc (ex officio)THOMAS D. LARSON, Federal Highway Administrator. Department of Transportation (ex officio)WARREN G. LEBACK, Maritime Administrator. Department of Transportation (ex officio)THOMAS C. RICHARDS, Federal Aviation Administrator, Department of Transportation (ex officio)ARTHUR E. WILLIAMS, Chief of Engineers and Commander, Army Corps of Engineers (ex officio)JAMES M.

3 BEGGS, Chairman, SPACEHAB, BROWN, Secretary, Illinois Department of TransportationDAVID BURWELL, President, Rails-to-Trails ConservancyL. GARY BYRD, Consulting Engineer, Alexandria, VirginiaL. STANLEY CRANE, former Chairman and CEO of CONRAILRICHARD K. DAVIDSON, Chairman and CEO, Union Pacific RailroadJAMES C. DELONG, Director of Aviation, Philadelphia International AirportJERRY L. DEPOY, Vice President, Properties & Facilities, USAirTHOMAS J. HARRELSON, Secretary, North Carolina Department of TransportationLESTER P. LAMM, President, Highway Users FederationLILLIAN C. LIBURDI, Director. Port Department, The Port Authority of New York and New JerseyADOLF D. MAY, JR., Professor and Vice Chairman, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California. BerkeleyWAYNE MURI, Chief Engineer, Missouri Highway & Transportation Department (Past Chairman, 1990)CHARLES P. O'LEARY, JR., Commissioner.

4 New Hampshire Department of TransportationNEIL PETERSON, Executive Director. Los Angeles County Transportation CommissionDELLA M. ROY, Professor of Materials Science, Pennsylvania State UniversityJOSEPH M. SUSSMAN, JR East Professor of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyJOHN R. TABB, Director, Chief Administrative Officer, Mississippi State Highway DepartmentJAMES W. VAN LOBEN SELS, Director, California Department of TransportationC. MICHAEL WALTON, Paul D. & Betty Robertson Meek Centennial Professor and Chairman, Civil Engineering Department, University ofTexas at Austin (Past Chairman, 1991)FRANKLIN E. WHITE, Commissioner, New York State Department of TransportationJULIAN WOLPERT, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Geography, Public Affairs and Urban Planning, Woodrow Wilson School of Public andInternational Affairs, Princeton UniversityROBERT A. YOUNG III, President, ABF Freight Systems, Inc NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAMT ransportation Research Board Executive Committee Subcommittee for NCHRPWILLIAM W.

5 MILLAR, Port Authority of Allegheny County (Chairman) CHAMBERLAIN, Colorado Department of TransportationFRANCIS B. FRANCOIS, American Association of State Highway andTransportation OfficialsTHOMAS D. LARSON, Department of Transportation C. MICHAEL WALTON, University of Texas at Austin L. GARY BYRD, Consulting EngineerTHOMAS B. DEEN, Transportation Research BoardField of DesignArea of Vehicle Barrier SystemsProject Panel C22-7 ROGER L. STOUGHTON, California Department of Transportation(Chairman)JAMES E. BRYDEN, New York State Department of TransportationCHARLES E. DOUGAN, Connecticut Department of TransportationDENNIS L. HANSEN, Hennepin Co. Department of Transportation, H. HATTON, JR., Federal Highway AdministrationWALTER J. JESTINGS, Parsons, Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, GeorgiaJAMES F. ROBERTS, Jefferson City, MissouriF. J. TAMANINI, Energy Absorption Systems, Inc., VirginiaTHOMAS TURBELL, VTI, SwedenHARRY W.

6 TAYLOR, Federal Highway Administration(The late) EDWARD N. POST, University of Nebraska-LincolnMARTY HARGRAVES, FHWA Liaison RepresentativeFRANK R. McCULLAGH, TRB Liaison RepresentativeProgram StaffROBERT J. REILLY, Director, Cooperative Research ProgramsROBERT B. MILLER, Financial OfficerLOUIS M. MAcGREGOR, Program OfficerDANIEL W. DEARASAUGH, JR., Senior Program OfficerAMIR N. HANNA, Senior Program Officer CRAWFORD F. JENCKS, Senior Program Officer KENNETH S. OPIELA, Senior Program Officer DAN A. ROSEN, Senior Program Officer SCOTT SABOL, Senior Program Officer EILEEN P. DELANEY, EditorNational Cooperative Highway Research ProgramReport 350 Recommended Procedures for theSafety performance Evaluationof Highway FeaturesH. E. ROSS, JR., D. L. SICKING, and R. A. ZIMMERT exas Transportation InstituteTexas A&M University SystemCollege Station, TexasandJ. D.

7 MICHIED ynatech Engineering Antonio, TexasResearch Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in Cooperation with theFederal Highway AdministrationTRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARDNATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCILNATIONAL ACADEMY PRESSW ashington, 1993 NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCHPROGRAMS ystematic, well-designed research provides the most effectiveapproach to the solution of many problems facing highwayadministrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of localinterest and can best be studied by highway departments individuallyor in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, theaccelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasinglycomplex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. Theseproblems are best studied through a coordinated program ofcooperative research.

8 In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of theAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officialsinitiated in 1962 an objective national highway research programemploying modern scientific techniques. This program is supported ona continuing basis by funds from participating member states of theAssociation and it receives the full cooperation and support of theFederal Highway Administration, United States Department ofTransportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National ResearchCouncil was requested by the Association to administer the researchprogram because of the Board's recognized objectivity andunderstanding of modern research practices. The Board is uniquelysuited for this purpose as: it maintains an extensive committeestructure from which authorities on any highway transportation subjectmay be drawn; it possesses avenues of communications andcooperation with federal, state and local governmental agencies,universities, and industry; its relationship to the National ResearchCouncil is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time researchcorrelation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters tobring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position touse them.

9 The program is developed on the basis of research needs identifiedby chief administrators of the highway and transportation departmentsand by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of researchneeds to be included in the program are proposed to the NationalResearch Council and the Board by the American Association of StateHighway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfillthese needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agenciesare selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administrationand surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of theNational Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the NationalCooperative Highway Research Program can make significantcontributions to the solution of highway transportation problems ofmutual concern to many responsible groups.

10 The program, however, isintended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate otherhighway research : The Transportation Research Board, the National ResearchCouncil, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Associationof State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the individual statesparticipating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program donot endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers namesappear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objectof this Report 350 Project 22-7 FY'89 ISSN 0077-5614 ISBN 0-309-04873-7L. C. Catalog Card No. 92-61950 Price $ of InterestsBridges, Other Structures, Hydraulics and HydrologyMaterials and ConstructionSafety and Human PerformanceModesHighway TransportationNOTICEThe project that is the subject of this Report was a part of the National CooperativeHighway Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board withthe approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council.