MASH Testing Road Safety Barriers

MASH is an acronym for ‘Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware’. MASH is a set of testing procedures and safety guidelines that are produced by American transport organisation AASHTO. MASH was introduced in Australia as the preferred testing method for road safety barriers by the Austroads Safety Barrier Assesment Panel. This rigorous testing is an essential step before barriers can be approved for use on our road networks and contributes to a reduction in road fatalities and trauma on our roads.

MASH performance testing is key in validating the safety of road barrier systems before they can be approved for use on our roads. This testing ensures road barriers can perform in real life crash situations, redirecting out of control vehicles in a very specific direction.

When performing MASH testing, a scenario is created with barriers installed in a controlled environment. The barriers are then rigorously tested against as many parameters as possible, with high-speed vehicles and trucks for impact resistance in crashes. The road barrier behaviour during the moment of impact is analysed and the barrier is given a MASH test level rating. This rating gives the customer confidence that the products available will meet the requirements of any site.

Saferoads is one of the world leading innovators in road safety barrier systems. Saferoads crash barriers are independently crash tested to MASH guidelines and can therefore be used with confidence. Rather than vehicles running off the road and into work zones and other traffic, Saferoads MASH compliant barriers redirect errant vehicles, contributing to the reduction of work zone related crash incidents.

As part of the testing process for road safety barrier systems, Saferoads have been using LS Dyna, an industry leading Finite Element Analysis (FEA) modelling tool. This program allows our engineers to accurately predict the performance of road safety barriers, and other devices, in a crash or impact scenario. There are an infinite number of combinations and inputs in a real-life crash test scenario, as well as in the LS Dyna FEA program.

“Casey McMaster, Engineering Manager at Saferoads said - having the capabilities to fully validate R&D programs plus other innovation and development projects using LS Dyna gives us an incredible advantage over other barrier developers or resellers. Saferoads also have the ability to run up to TL-3, 2, 270kg pickup tests at 100km/h at our testing facility in Victoria”