Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) maintained roadways are getting safer thanks to a statewide limited scope guardrail terminal maintenance inspection program managed by VDOT Central Office’s Traffic Operations Division. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), guardrails are safety barriers intended to shield motorists who have left the roadway.
According to 2018 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 103,000 crashes involved guardrail as the first harmful event. Unfortunately, there are several details that could lead to the unreliability of a guardrail. Poor maintenance, the use of mismatched materials, and erosion can all contribute to a guardrail potentially doing exactly the opposite of its original intention: To absorb shock and protect a driver.
Every day, VDOT assumes the very serious responsibility of maintaining these guardrails so they remain intact and reliable for the public using Virginia’s roadways. Over the past ten years, Timmons Group’s guardrail experts have supported VDOT professional staff with this responsibility through guardrail-related consultation.
Our subject matter experts helped lead VDOT’s transition to Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) standards in 2016 and later guided the development of VDOT’s Strategic Guardrail Management Program (SGMP), which prioritizes and funds the replacement of obsolete guardrail terminals throughout the state. The SGMP’s success was recognized nationally in 2019 when VDOT won the National Roadway Safety Award for Program Planning, Development, and Evaluation, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) President’s Award for Performance Excellence, Data, and Technology.
In early 2023, following the success of the SGMP, VDOT embarked on the development of the limited scope guardrail terminal maintenance inspection program. This program involves a “boots-on-the-ground” limited-scope inspection of every guardrail terminal in the state, covering over 7,400 miles of guardrail and approximately 150,000 terminals statewide.
The limited scope program focuses on identifying potential mix-and-match products (combinations of conflicting proprietary guardrail components), installation issues, rust, damage, obsolete products, and other noticeable errors. Timmons Group worked closely with VDOT and a small focus group to determine the appropriate inspection checklist. Ultimately, a list of inspection items was narrowed down, allowing for inspections to take place in less than 15 minutes, minimizing traffic pattern interruption and cost while maximizing the number of guardrails inspected for public safety.
In addition to the development of the “pocket guide,” Timmons Group also collaborated with VDOT and its consultants to write a worker safety manual specifically for the limited scope guardrail terminal maintenance inspection program. A pilot program inspection effort was conducted in the summer of 2023, with the full rollout of the limited scope guardrail terminal maintenance inspection program occurring in late summer/early fall of 2024. Timmons Group’s teams have played a key role in the classroom and field technical training of dozens of inspection teams over the past year.
As of June 2024, Timmons Group, with the Virginia Department of Transportation, has inspected over 15,000 terminals as part of the program so far. More than half of all the terminals in the state have been inspected, including all interstates and US routes. Approximately 5% of guardrail terminals have been identified as mis-installed or containing mix-and-match products, one of the leading concerns of the limited scope guardrail terminal maintenance inspection program. As terminal issues are identified, Timmons Group continues to partner with VDOT to prioritize the design and replacement of those terminals through the SGMP.
Timmons Group’s transportation team has specific expertise in the guidance of guardrail design for VDOT, leading to safer potential impact and improving the reliability of guardrails throughout the Commonwealth. While Timmons Group has assisted VDOT directly for more than ten years as it relates to guardrail, our leadership and expertise in the last few years have been invaluable to the success of VDOT’s efforts to implement MASH guardrail standards across the state and develop the limited scope guardrail terminal maintenance inspection program.
Timmons Group remains committed to the safety of Virginia motorists and to supporting VDOT as it completes the limited scope guardrail terminal maintenance inspection program.
To understand the full breadth of Timmons Group’s traffic and transportation services, see our projects here.
