| paul the original - 9/27/2010 10:45 Here in MN the guard rails all used to swoop down and out, so there was no chance of this happening. It was deemed this was a bad design, as it could cause someone hitting the swoop to veer over into the other lane. So, they were all changed out for a end-plate design, all straight guard, with a rather flimsy looking to me square end on it. I would _not_ want to hit one of those ends, it looks like it _would_ spear a person, and not give or deflect a car, but smash it hard. I'm not an engineer, but myself, I don't like what the new stuff looks like. It's either going to stop you cold, or shear through & spear you - from the looks of it. Snowplow hit one last year, and the results did not look good for a lighter vehicle. What are they doing for a new design now, if you can put it in a simple 20 words for a simple farmer? --->Paul Paul, probably what you are referring to is a T2000 or similar end treatment. They work by when the flat plate is struck by a vehicle, slides along the W-Beam guardrail. While doing this the guardrail is peeled outwards and away from the vehicle so there is little chance of spearing. Also as the plate slides along the rail, there is a large friction effect as it forces the rail into a curve and this slows a vehicle down fast. They work well. |
Montana wreck
