Bicycle Railing Height Report - AASHTO - Subcommittee on Design

BICYCLE RAILING HEIGHT SURVEY
STATE RESPONSES
2. What bicycle railing height does your agency routinely use on bridges?
Count %
1 42"/1.1m 6 15%
2 54"/1.4m 18 45%
3 Both heights, depending on conditions 11 28%
4 Other 5 13%
BOTH HEIGHTS RESPONSES:
On highway bridges the <strong>AASHTO</strong> Bridge manual holds, on trail bridges the <strong>AASHTO</strong>
Guidelines for <strong>Bicycle</strong> Fcilities hold.
54" was routinely used up to a few years ago. Now the engineer looks at the situation
more critically (width of shoulder, drop-off below, etc) and makes a determination on
railing height
The <strong>AASHTO</strong> Gidelines for <strong>Bicycle</strong> Facilities mentions a 42
The <strong>AASHTO</strong> Gidelines for <strong>Bicycle</strong> Facilities mentions a 42
We lobby for 42", beridge designers insist on 54"
Different admininstrative and/or design units (local highway district design, central
office bridge design, consultants) may be responsible for a project
42" min. ped only, 54" if designsted as bike trail
54
For pedestrian accommodation the Department uses the 42" height. If the bridge
features a bicycle facility, we currently use 54" even if it is to be shared by both types of
users.
A- 2