TxDOT Research Project

Establishing Comprehensive Manual on Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) Compliance for Roadside Safety Systems in Texas

test site photo
What Was the Need?
Since the 1940s, the United States has been crash testing highway safety appurtenances. National guidelines for testing roadside appurtenances originated in 1962. Guidelines for testing and evaluating the impact performance of roadside safety features are periodically updated to stay current with improvements in technology and changes in the vehicle fleet and impact conditions. In 2009, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) published a document, entitled Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH), which supersedes the previous crash test and evaluation guidelines. Changes incorporated into MASH include new design test vehicles, revised test matrices, and revised impact conditions. A MASH implementation agreement was jointly developed and adopted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and AASHTO. It establishes various implementation dates for different categories of roadside safety features. On projects let after the specified dates, only MASH compliant hardware is eligible for new installations on the National Highway System (NHS).

What's the Solution?
In response to the implementation requirements, the Texas Department of Transportation’s Bridge, Design, Maintenance, and Traffic Operations Divisions reviewed their standards for roadside safety devices and identified those devices that require testing and evaluation to assess MASH compliance. A total of 36 roadside safety systems will be crash tested in accordance with MASH criteria in three phases over a three-year period.

Project Number
0-6946
Status
Completed

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Start Date
5/16/2017
End Date
12/31/2019
Performing Institution(s)
Texas A & M Transportation Institute (TTI)
Research Team
RS: Roger Bligh
Sponsor
Project Manager
Wade Odell
Contract Specialist
Patti Dathe
TxDOT Advisor
Chris Lindsey, DES
Mark Johnson, MNT
Taya Retterer, BRG
Jon Reis, BRG
Doug Skowronek, TRF
Amount Funded
$3,317,945
Source
TxDOT RTI
Page:
Functional Area
Safety and Operations
Index Terms
Highway safety
Compliance
Lead University
TTI
Researcher
Bligh, Roger P.
TxDOT District
MNT
DES
BRG
TRF

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Comments
nugentml
nugentml
Related Web Presentation, 7/30/2019: "Bridge Railing MASH Updates" / Tara Retterer https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/brg/webinars/2019-0725/05.pdf
4/24/2020 at 4:46 PM
0
kac2579
kac2579
(1) MASH Evaluation on TxDOT Roadside Safety Features - Phase I (Part Two), Accident Reconstruction Journal, Volume 29, Issue 3, 2019, pp 34-48 publ. 2019-05
(2) MASH Evaluation of TxDOT Roadside Safety Features Phase I (Part One), Accident Reconstruction Journal, Volume 29, Issue 2, 2019, pp 26-40 publ. 2019-03
7/1/2020 at 10:32 AM
0
Record Added:
10/13/2017
Record Updated:
1/12/2023 5:30 AM EST

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