(light music) (logo swooshes)
- [Narrator] When Hurricane Harvey made landfall in 2017,
concrete medium barriers on I 10 and Highway 59 in Houston
led to major repairs before the roads could be reopened.
The reason?
Those barriers acted like dams,
holding rainwater and leading to higher levels of flooding
and damage in some locations.
Working with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute,
the Texas Department of Transportation evaluated
requirements for water flow across roads
to design safe and compliant barriers
that benefit the movement of water during severe weather.
- This particular research was needed
because there were major flooding issues due to some
of the hurricanes in the last several years.
- During Hurricane Harvey,
with the severe rain and flooding that occurred,
we found out that barriers such as these,
they're solid in nature and they can actually act as dams
to the flood water
and raise the level of the flood water up,
which can result in more severe flooding of the roadways
and the surrounding communities.
- [Kenneth] There were instances where the barrier
that had been placed there, or even permanent barrier,
was acting as a dam,
and in some instances it actually had to be taken apart
in order to let the water bypass.
- [Roger] This research was basically funded
so that we could try
and develop a portable concrete barrier
that can help mitigate those flooding concerns
that were observed.
- Our intention was to get a barrier
that was both hydraulically efficient and crash worthy.
The crash-worthiness had to be called TL4,
which means it could withstand the impact
of a 22,000 pound truck at 56 miles per hour.
- [Roger] Texas A&M Transportation Institute
was the lead on the study,
but we were partnering with
the Center for Transportation Research
at the University of Texas at Austin.
- [Kenneth] There were actually
some hydraulic models that were built.
I believe those were over at UT.
And once we determined that there was a barrier designed
that was reasonably hydraulically efficient,
then TTI commenced to basically designing
the structural components of the barrier
so that it could withstand the crash test.
And ultimately, they do simulations at TTI
to determine whether or not the barrier
is in fact gonna pass the crash test,
and when there's a good likelihood it is,
then ultimately it was crash tested
with the 22,000 pound single unit truck
as well as a 5,000 pound pickup in a small car.
- The hydraulically efficient portable concrete barrier
that we developed,
it's basically a precast concrete barrier,
as other portable barrier systems are,
but this one now has a very large opening.
It's 12 inches tall by 18 feet wide
in an overall 30 foot segment.
So it allows a tremendous amount of water
to be able to pass through it.
So we were able to permit that opening to be there
and still achieve a very high level of crash-worthiness.
And according to our MASH standard,
we were actually able to test that
to what we refer to as test level four,
which included vehicles up to a large single unit truck.
- This research will basically improve the safety
to the traveling public, particularly during
heavy rain events and flooding events, hurricane events,
because it allows water to flow
from side to side of the barrier,
and the water will not dam up on one side
when there might be flooding approaching,
or water approaching from the tire on one side
as opposed to the other.
- [Narrator] For more information
and to find the publication for this project,
please visit the TxDOT Research Library
at the link shown below.