HammerBeam™
Preventing Damage to the Bridge or Culvert Structure
HammerBeam™ Bridge & Culvert Barrier
MASH TL3 Compliant Bridge & Culvert Barrier
HammerBeam™ combines the strength of thrie-beam guardrail with the yielding behaviour of the RamShield® W-Beam post for longitudinal barrier installations along the edge of elevated structures such as culverts or bridges.
The RamShield® post is designed to collapse upon impact distinguishing it from heavier, rigid post systems which become problematic when attached to concrete structures. The yielding performance of the RamShield® post reduces forces transferred to the elevated structure preventing damage and facilitating ease of repair.
- MASH TL3 Compliant.
- Available with side-mount or surface mount posts.
- Side mounting aligns the face of the thrie-beam rail with the edge of the elevated structure maximising usable bridge and culvert width.
- Simple replacement of posts following design impacts.
- Standard post spacing: 2m centres.
Product Data Sheet
HammerBeam™ FAQ’s
How does HammerBeam™ Work?
HammerBeam™ combines the strength of thrie-beam guardrail with the yielding behaviour of the RamShield® W-Beam post.
HammerBeam™ may be installed with posts secured to the side of an elevated concrete structure maximising usable bridge and culvert width, reducing the potential for centreline crowding.
HammerBeam™ may be installed with posts on baseplates secured to the top of an elevated concrete structure at sites where access to the side of the structure may be restrictive.
What crash tests have been performed with HammerBeam™?
HammerBeam™ has been fully crash tested and evaluated according to the specifications for Test Level 3 (TL3) of the AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). The MASH specification is an update to and supersedes NCHRP Report 350 for the purposes of evaluating new safety hardware devices.
Crash testes were performed with posts mounted to the side of an elevated concrete beam.
What is MASH?
The MASH specification is an update to and supersedes NCHRP Report 350 for the purposes of evaluating new safety hardware devices.
MASH presents uniform guidelines for crash testing permanent and temporary highway safety features and recommends evaluation criteria to assess test results.
MASH considers real-life crash data, changes to the vehicle fleet and in-service performance in developing evaluation criteria.
How are the HammerBeam™ posts installed?
The side mount option features a bracket containing a recess for insertion of the RamShield® post. Once the bracket is secured to the side of the structure, the standard length RamShield® post (1560mm) is cut to the required length on site and inserted into the recess.
What if a kerb is installed on the bridge or culvert structure?
Bridge and culvert structures often feature kerbing to facilitate drainage. The installation of barriers behind kerbs may affect the vehicle trajectory and safe containment and redirection.
HammerBeam™ has been crash tested to MASH TL3 directly behind a 200mm high hob. The hob featured a vertical face and crash testing was performed with both the 2270kg pick-up truck (2270P) and 1100kg passenger car (1100C) travelling at 100km/h and 25 degrees representing ‘worst practical conditions’ to evaluate the potential for vehicle launching.
In both impact conditions the test vehicles were safely contained and redirected satisfying all MASH criteria.
What is the post spacing of HammerBeam™?
The standard post spacing of HammerBeam™ is 2m centres.
What is the system height of HammerBeam™?
The system height of HammerBeam™ is 1000mm. The position of the w-beam rail will sit approximately 50mm above the top of the posts.
