<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Two main elements are essential in terms of road traffic safety. The first element is accident prevention and the second is the minimization of accident severity once a crash has occurred. Concrete safety barriers have very good anti-collision performance against roadside obstacles, relatively modest construction and maintenance costs, and low dynamic deflection and therefore are widely used in tunnels. Thanks to their characteristic redirective profile these barriers can redirect errant vehicles into their original lane after collisions. However insufficient research has been done for increasing the performance of concrete barriers purposely designed for tunnel installations. This research presents the new “NDBA Tunnel” concrete safety barrier designed and constructed by the Italian Road Operator ANAS indicated to be installed in road tunnel sections for safety improvements. In Europe, road safety barriers must be designed in compliance with the European Standard EN 1317. Therefore, the barrier “NDBA Tunnel” was subject to the TB11 and TB81 full-scale crash tests according to the European EN 1317 regulation. The results prove the barrier's ability to absorb impact loads of light and heavy vehicles with a working width W2. Therefore, the NDBA concrete barrier can be installed on existing or new tunnels at a distance less than or equal to 70 cm from the facing of the tunnel wall.</p>
</abstract>

Two main elements are essential in terms of road traffic safety. The first element is accident prevention and the second is the minimization of accident severity once a crash has occurred. Concrete safety barriers have very good anti-collision performance against roadside obstacles, relatively modest construction and maintenance costs, and low dynamic deflection and therefore are widely used in tunnels. Thanks to their characteristic redirective profile these barriers can redirect errant vehicles into their original lane after collisions. However insufficient research has been done for increasing the performance of concrete barriers purposely designed for tunnel installations. This research presents the new “NDBA Tunnel” concrete safety barrier designed and constructed by the Italian Road Operator ANAS indicated to be installed in road tunnel sections for safety improvements. In Europe, road safety barriers must be designed in compliance with the European Standard EN 1317. Therefore, the barrier “NDBA Tunnel” was subject to the TB11 and TB81 full-scale crash tests according to the European EN 1317 regulation. The results prove the barrier's ability to absorb impact loads of light and heavy vehicles with a working width W2. Therefore, the NDBA concrete barrier can be installed on existing or new tunnels at a distance less than or equal to 70 cm from the facing of the tunnel wall.

Improving Traffic Safety in Existing and New Road Tunnels with the Novel NDBA Concrete Safety Barrier

DICAM, University of Trento via Mesiano 77

Transport and Telecommunication Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Two main elements are essential in terms of road traffic safety. The first element is accident prevention and the second is the minimization of accident...

Improving Traffic Safety in Existing and New Road Tunnels with the Novel NDBA Concrete Safety Barrier

Published Online: Jun 26, 2024

Page range: 251 - 265

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ttj-2024-0018

Keywords
concrete safety barriers, “NDBA Tunnel” barrier, full-scale crash test, EN 1317 regulation

© 2024 Marco Guerrieri et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Improving Traffic Safety in Existing and New Road Tunnels with the Novel NDBA Concrete Safety Barrier

Published Online: Jun 26, 2024

Page range: 251 - 265

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ttj-2024-0018

Keywordsconcrete safety barriers, “NDBA Tunnel” barrier, full-scale crash test, EN 1317 regulation

© 2024 Marco Guerrieri et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
concrete safety barriers, “NDBA Tunnel” barrier, full-scale crash test, EN 1317 regulation