The enhanced asset management approach includes improved
data collection for identifying maintenance needs for guiderail and guiderail
end treatments, processes that drive corrective measures, and assessments of
when guiderail has reached the end of its service life.
Beginning in 2019, PennDOT over a three-year span, will
systemically upgrade and replace end treatments on the Interstate system with
end treatments that meet new standards adopted this year by the American
Association of State Highway Transportation Officials’ (AASHTO) Manual for
Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH).
“With changes in vehicle designs, AASHTO has embraced new
standards, and our commitment is to meet the challenge of ensuring our
guiderail and guiderail end treatment inventory is up to date,” said PennDOT
Secretary Leslie S. Richards. “Safety is PennDOT’s top priority and these steps
reflect our intent to keep our system as safe as possible.”
The estimated cost for the three-year upgrade to the
Interstate system is $45 million.
Moving beyond the interstate system, PennDOT will upgrade
guiderail and end treatments, as appropriate, as part of new, reconstruction
and pavement preservation projects listed on the 12-Year Program for
expressways, National Highway System routes and lower volume roads.
Additionally, upgrade programs relative to systems that are approaching the end
of their useful life will require the advancement of guiderail-specific
projects. These parts of the plan will be prioritized by network, with the
higher volume roads being upgraded first and with priority given to hardware
that does not meet current standards.
For addressing the systematic program upgrades, including on
lower volume networks, the plan envisions increasing the current $44 million
annual budget for guiderail upgrades to roughly $70 million to $90 million
annually over the next 12 to 15 years.
Across Pennsylvania, the 40,000-mile state-maintained road
network has 9,700 miles of guiderail, including 1,500 miles on the Interstates,
2,300 miles on the National Highway System off the Interstates, and 5,900 miles
on lower volume state routes.
“Addressing these needs is an important part of our
maintenance work, but this program is over and above such ongoing issues as
taking care of pavement needs,” Richards said. “We are fortunate that we are
able to tackle this challenge with resources now available to PennDOT and
generated by the drivers who use our large system.”
