Ever stare at the barest pieces of concrete and metal preventing you from veering off a bridge and plummeting hundreds of feet to your watery grave below, and wondering how they test all that? Me neither, let’s be honest. But if you did, it’s exactly how you think they’d do it. By crashing big stuff into it.
Engineers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute are testing new barriers for the Causeway Bridge in New Orleans, and the idea is to be able to stop vehicles from diving over the side when moving at 62 MPH. As you can see in this video from the local FOX affiliate, the new barrier design is completely unfazed by a box truck plowing into it:
That is going to be really awkward, when Texas A&M returns the truck to Penske. How about a Ram pickup?
After seeing that video, you and I, dear reader, are thinking the exact same thing. LET’S SEE IT IN SLOW MOTION AND FROM ANOTHER ANGLE SO WE CAN SEE THE BARRIER EXPLODING INTO OUR FACE:
Bravo, bridge barrier. Box trucks and pickups can be kind of weighty, so let’s see what happens when this mighty barrier faces a mere car:
Aww yeah, air time.
Let’s hope no one ever has to use these barriers for their intended purpose.
Contact the author at ballaban@jalopnik.com.
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