Análisis de los sistemas de contención en Colombia vs estándares de diseño internacionales a nivel Latinoamérica

Abstract

The present work is developed, taking as reference the high degree of severity of accidents produced by frontal collision against the elements installed at the ends of the metallic barriers, called “fishtail or spoon” type terminals, commonly used in containment systems. vial in Colombia, and which are restricted in use in many countries of the world. One of the proposed objectives is to determine the status of implementation of standards and design methodologies, related to road containment systems in Colombia and Latin America; and its correlation with the international standards for the evaluation of performance and conformity of certified containment systems, for which a comparison was made between Chile, Peru and Colombia, in relation to variables such as: design parameters, level of severity and deformation of the system, among others. Obtaining in the end worrisome results at the national level, because while the other countries have mandatory regulations; In Colombia, there is currently no regulatory support for the guidelines and standards that have existed since 2012. If the implementation of certified containment systems is required, the designer's criteria is necessary to select the existing products on the market that adapt to the specific conditions of each road section and comply with the acceptance requirements of impact tests both for containment system as well as required terminals. The normative analysis carried out shows the urgency with which the Colombian state must establish, approve and promulgate normative provisions or technical regulations that provide road users with containment systems that respond to the specific needs of the lateral zones, in order to prevent, control and reduce the percentage of accidents and fatalities. Additionally, in terms of road safety, there are multiple needs that must be addressed immediately to save lives, such as the removal of the "fishtail or spoon" type terminals that continue to claim lives day after day.