A timber guardrail for highways made with hardwoods

Conference paper (2019)

Authors

J.W.G. van de Kuilen Technische Universität München, Bio-based Structures & Materials - CEG
V. Antonelli Lightweight Structures Consultant
I.C. de Pauw Circular Product Design - IDE , IDEAL & CO Explore
Research Group
Bio-based Structures & Materials (CEG) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2019 J.W.G. van de Kuilen, V. Antonelli, I.C. de Pauw
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2019

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Civil Engineering & Geosciences

Department

Engineering Structures

Research Group

Bio-based Structures & Materials

Abstract

A timber guardrail made of sustainable tropical hardwoods has been developed in the Netherlands. The guardrail is an environmentally friendly alternative for zinc-coated steel barriers. The guardrail is made of a combination of two durable hardwood species: angelim vermelho (Dinizia excelsa) from Brazil and azobé (Lophira alata) from Africa. Full-scale tests have shown that the guardrail is able to withstand the impact of a 13000 kg bus driving at a speed of 70 km/h and an impact angle of 20° as well as that of a car of 900 kg having an impact speed of 100 km/h and same angle. Steam bent curved boards are used as energy absorbers from the passenger car impact. After the full-scale tests with the bus, no damage was found in the timber elements, and the guardrail had only to be straightened, saving repair costs during the service life of a guardrail. The guardrail fulfils the requirements specified in European standard EN 1317 Road Safety Systems for the H2 level with accident severity index of 1.0.

Files

A_timber_guardrail_for_highway... (pdf)
(pdf | 0.642 Mb)
Unknown license