Having seen many sites where barriers where swaying during deployment and handling it was decided that the Defender Barrier Temporary steel barriers would be designed to improve safety in handling. This danger is particularly high at road side storage yard which usually only compacted soil and is often uneven. While the weight of the barrier is well within the limit of the forklift, at 12-15m (40-50 ft) a large part of the barrier is hanging unsupported on either side of the forklift creating a dangerous tipping hazard. Because of the weight of a steel barrier a 2.5 t to 5 t forklift is often used for handling. The second most common method is the use of a forklift through the feet. The barrier is cumbersome and does not lend itself easily to manoeuvring.
This means a 1000kg 12-15m (40-50 ft) piece of steel is airborne on a work site, next to a road, usually with just one person guiding it with a lanyard. This will require a crane operator and a spotter who will guide the barrier in to place. Firstly, is the use of double slings from lifting points on the top of the barrier. There are two common methods for handling temporary steel barriers at a depot and at roadside. When you add this to the overall length of the barriers, 12-15m (40-50ft), safety issues at storage depot’s can arise. It requires multiple work methods, multiple safety procedures and multiple assets for deployment. Which is a costly time consuming exercise in storage, handling, logistics and deployment. This means that on any one work site, it could be necessary for a contractor to hold 12-15m (40-50ft) temporary steel barriers and 2-6m concrete barriers and perhaps even plastic water filled to accommodate some of the more difficult locations. Road sag can be an issue because of the length of these temporary steel barriers, where too steep a sag makes the barriers useless. With a standard deployed radius of 200-250m it is often the case that the contractor is required to hold a variety of mitered sections at different degrees of arc and both left and right turn. The length of the barrier can be problematic on difficult sites, with no ability to adjust barrier direction except every 12-15m (40-50ft). IMPORTANCE OF AN OPTIMISED LENGTH OF A BARRIER
#Jersey barrier portable#
Lighter than portable concrete barriers, the safety advantages temporary steel barriers and a dramatic improvement in depot and site handling safety to help prevent serious injury or death to workers and drivers. On the road side, the same level of safety is achieved because it easy for one person with a lanyard to control a much lighter 3.9m temporary steel barrier compared the more cumbersome 1000kg 12-15m (40-50 ft) temporary steel barriers.ĭefender Barriers has taken everything that is good about temporary steel barriers and improved them. With feet at 1.35 m (4’5’) when a barrier is lifted using a forklift there is a very small overhang, improving safety. The Defender 100™ is only 3.9 m long and weighs only 303 kg. Experience at roadworks, and at contractors depots has shown the team at Safe Barriers that while properly tested temporary steel barriers offer the best solution for safety on work sites when compared to concrete, and in some cases plastic water filled there are issues when it comes to handling, storage, transport and deployment of a 12-15m (40-50ft) temporary steel barrier. Some barriers have passed tests with larger vehicles but are too stiff to work with smaller vehicles and have been “deemed to comply” so that industry has a solution.ĭefender 100™ is the next evolution in temporary steel barriers. Many PCB’s remain public domain designs that have not been crash tested to the latest crash testing standards. Portable Concrete Barriers (PCB) have performed adequately across the years as safety barriers, however, they have limitations in their use.
Portable Concrete Barriers have been in use for several decades, the original designs have not changed significantly over that time. The two most common types of safety barriers used on high speed construction sites are Portable Concrete Barriers (PCB’s) and 12-15m long Temporary Steel Barriers.
Safety barriers should be used where the risk to drivers, road workers, pedestrians or cyclists is higher than if there is no barrier. Todays high speed (80-110kph, 50-70mph) road construction sites use a variety of safety barriers to improve the safety for construction workers and motorists travelling through these traffic disruptions.