Approval of Bridge Railing

TxDOT evaluates bridge rails for use on Texas bridges based on several criteria including, but not limited to: crash worthiness; the usefulness for new and retrofit bridge rails; the ease of installation; availability of the individual components; cost of the rail; long term durability; and required repairs after impact. For a bridge railing type to be considered for approval for use on Texas bridges it must meet one of the following crash worthiness determination:
  • It has been successfully crash tested in accordance with MASH 2016.
  • It has been approved for specific uses by FHWA after evaluation of results from successful crash testing.
  • It has been evaluated by TxDOT and identified as similar in strength and geometry to another rail that has been successfully crash tested in accordance with MASH 2016 criteria.
Meeting the above crash worthiness criteria does not guarantee approval of the bridge rail for use on Texas bridges.