Patent ID: 6558067
Filing Date: 2003-05-06
Classification: E01F

Abstract:
A guardrail beam for installation along a roadway, comprising:a top edge; a bottom edge; a plurality of crowns disposed longitudinally along the guardrail beam between the top edge and the bottom edge; the crowns corresponding with the configuration of a conventional W-beam guardrail; means for securing the guardrail beam to an adjacent guardrail beam in an overlapping manner to form a splice; means for securing the guardrail beam to a plurality of support posts; a first fold disposed longitudinally along the top edge; a second fold disposed longitudinally along the bottom edge; the first fold and the second fold cooperating with each other to more uniformly distribute stresses within the guardrail beam and to minimize buckling during a crash event; a downstream end spaced longitudinally from the upstream end; an intermediate portion disposed between the upstream end and the downstream end, wherein the first and second folds are generally tubular within the upstream end and the intermediate portion; a curl flange forming a transition between an upper face of the guardrail beam and the first fold and an angle formed between the curl flange and the upper face that is approximately equal to or greater than twenty-five degrees; a plurality of splice bolt slots to allow installing the guardrail beam as part of a conventional W-beam guardrail system; a plurality of post bolt slots that allow the guardrail beam to be secured to support posts; and the first fold and the second fold cooperating with each other to more uniformly distribute loads applied to the guardrail beam at the splice bolt slots and the post bolt slots and to minimize buckling during a crash event.