Guardrail Length Calculator
by Billy Hansen, Process Improvement Intern
Aug. 21, 2017
Railing can save lives by preventing cars from veering off roadways near steep embankments, cliffs, hazardous material or valuable property. That's why engineers must be fully confident in calculations that help them determine where the railing is necessary and how much is needed for a particular job.
Seeing the need to reduce the potential for human error, CDOT Professional Engineer Austin Gilbert created a guardrail length calculator, which, as he puts it, is a check on engineer calculations. His innovation led to a broader search for available guardrail tools and eventually to this FHWA Excel spreadsheet. As with any tool, the output from this spreadsheet should be carefully checked by a Professional Engineer well versed in the appropriate area of expertise.
Benefits
This safeguard eliminates the need for engineers to recheck their work by hand by catching potential miscalculations and giving engineers an increased sense of confidence.
The tool offers speed through automation. In fact, Engineering Manager Dan Hunt estimates his team saved as much as 10 to 15 minutes per calculation by using the tool to measure the amount of guardrail needed for a 30-mile stretch of highway.
"The guardrail length calculator is a tool to check for errors, which improves safety for roadway users," Gilbert said. "This opens an opportunity for discussion that could lead to even better calculation precision, and this is a good place to start."
"At CDOT, our primary concern is safety," said Process Improvement Director Gary Vansuch. "This innovation helps us make our roadways safer, and for that, I'm very proud."
CDOT supports the use of the Federal Highway Administration's guardrail length calculator spreadsheet which can be found here under the “Barrier Length of Need” link. This tool will help our engineers save time and effort while improving the accuracy of the guardrail.