The Construction Department of the Dutch Ministry of Public Works (RWS) has recommended that a certain section of the Department of Road Transport (RDW) is fitted with the steel RWS barrier to serve as a protective shield. The road section to be screened off is about 170 m in length. The RWS barrier divides two test facilities. The SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research has assessed the practicability of the proposed solution by performing a number of simulations using the VEDYAC (VEhicle DYnamics And Crash dynamics) computer program. Simulations were conducted with a passenger car, and with two lorries weighing 10 ton and 30 ton, respectively. The computer simulations show that the RWS barrier the RWS barrier is well able to withstand the collisions performed, also under the most unfavourable angle of approach. It is concluded that the proposed facility, which anchors the 170 m long RWS barrier only at the extremities, has a limited effective length. The degree of distortion of the barrier restricts the practicability of the test facility behind the barrier. It is recommended to anchor each element of the RWS barrier so that it may meet the specified requirements, even under the most unfavourable collision conditions.
Abstract