Bridge Railing Design Requirements

As of January 1, 2020, all new and replacement bridge rails installed on the National Highway System are required to conform to the requirements stipulated in the AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware [MASH], 2nd edition (2016). NCHRP Research Report 1109: Bridge Railing Design Requirements, from TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program, presents an update to bridge railing design requirements to ensure consistency with the state of knowledge. The update incorporates the recommendations from NCHRP Research Report 1024: Evaluation of Bridge Rail Systems to Confirm AASHTO MASH Compliance and NCHRP Research Report 1078: MASH Railing Load Requirements for Bridge Deck Overhang. An appendix to the report presents design examples for railings and deck overhangs.