The wire rope barriers have been installed all over Texas interstate highways which, in the past had no barriers to prevent traffic from crossing medians into oncoming traffic. A lot of bad accidents happened when vehicles crossed a grass median and slammed head-on into oncoming traffic. Years ago in an ice storm I almost became a statistic when a vehicle hit some black ice and the driver lost control, launching their vehicle across the median towards our vehicle.
They had installed miles of these wire rope barriers in the last 10 years and I have seen them being installed up in Oklahoma too.
Of course, once there is an accident the wire rope may have been strained past its rated capacity so it needs to be replaced. You can buy spools of the wire rope [0] from recycled materials handlers. Along the interstates near my place you will see skid marks into the cable barriers every time the highways get wet. If the weather was really bad you could find a dozen new collision spots in a 20 mile stretch. It keeps the repair crews busy. People drive too fast out here nowadays.
The pdf document posted is a great read. I see several barrier designs there that I have never seen in use anywhere and all the familiar ones too.
The most common barrier for many years in Texas has been the W-beam SGR04B type or similarly, the thrie-beam rail SGR09B but they tend to use treated timber posts for mounts. The newer installations have impact-absorbing lead-ins to help prevent fatalities.
A couple years ago I was driving home along a two-lane US highway (not an interstate) where the W-beams were used at every creek or river crossing. As I rounded a long curve in the highway headed downhill towards a creek crossing about 1000' away (305 m) I saw skid marks leading to the edge of the highway where the guard rails should've been. The skid marks were obviously made by an 18-wheeler (semi) truck-trailer. The guard rail was completely wiped out and as I passed the creek I saw where it came to rest. The entire length of rail was curled and twisted with one end up more than 30' (9.1 m) in a tree beside the creek more than 30' (9.1 m) off of the highway and the other end curled down near to the ground. It had been launched up into the tree by the force of the collision.
They had installed miles of these wire rope barriers in the last 10 years and I have seen them being installed up in Oklahoma too.
Of course, once there is an accident the wire rope may have been strained past its rated capacity so it needs to be replaced. You can buy spools of the wire rope [0] from recycled materials handlers. Along the interstates near my place you will see skid marks into the cable barriers every time the highways get wet. If the weather was really bad you could find a dozen new collision spots in a 20 mile stretch. It keeps the repair crews busy. People drive too fast out here nowadays.
The pdf document posted is a great read. I see several barrier designs there that I have never seen in use anywhere and all the familiar ones too.
The most common barrier for many years in Texas has been the W-beam SGR04B type or similarly, the thrie-beam rail SGR09B but they tend to use treated timber posts for mounts. The newer installations have impact-absorbing lead-ins to help prevent fatalities.
A couple years ago I was driving home along a two-lane US highway (not an interstate) where the W-beams were used at every creek or river crossing. As I rounded a long curve in the highway headed downhill towards a creek crossing about 1000' away (305 m) I saw skid marks leading to the edge of the highway where the guard rails should've been. The skid marks were obviously made by an 18-wheeler (semi) truck-trailer. The guard rail was completely wiped out and as I passed the creek I saw where it came to rest. The entire length of rail was curled and twisted with one end up more than 30' (9.1 m) in a tree beside the creek more than 30' (9.1 m) off of the highway and the other end curled down near to the ground. It had been launched up into the tree by the force of the collision.
[0] https://www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com/median-galvanized-cab...