Consistency in the design of traffic barriers for bridges has been identified as a major issue in current practice throughout Australia and New Zealand. The need for standard solutions was recognised by road jurisdictions, consultants and contractors during the Austroads 6th Bridge Conference Workshop on Bridge Barriers, held in 2006. The main areas of concern are the determination of appropriate barrier performance levels, structural design criteria, the lack of standard barrier design details, guidance on retrofitting existing bridge barriers, bridge approach barriers and overpass bridge support protection.
This report addresses these issues and provides a set of design guidelines for the identified areas. These guidelines will assist bridge designers, contractors and jurisdictions to provide consistency and cost savings in the selection and development of relevant bridge barriers throughout Australia and New Zealand. Existing jurisdictional technical specifications, standards and guidelines, as well as outcomes from extensive expert discussions have been incorporated in this report. Key areas of future work to be undertaken after the on-going revision of AS 5100 has been published are also included.