Common Road Barriers

Vertical Concrete Parapets – Concrete Vertical Papapets are designed to absorb vertical loads on impact. Unlike the Jersey barrier, they are designed not to lift the vehicle but instead prevent it from rollover by keeping all four wheels on the ground. These barriers will cause substantially more damage to the impacting vehicle and driver injury could be substantially higher. The driver and passengers could be thrown more forcefully from the vehicle either into the barrier itself through a side window or through the front windshield due to the direct impact into the barrier.

Portable Concrete Barriers – Portable concrete barriers ( PCBs) are primarily utilized in construction work areas to keep wayward vehicles from hitting workers. They are produced in sections, which are then transported and linked together on site. Although their portability make them a great choice for ongoing and moving projects, their safety lies in a combination of long segments and significantly tight connections. The tighter connections allow for bending capabilities within the barriers. This will not occur if the sections are haphazardly connected to one another.

Additional security can be gained by securing each of the sections at either end to the roadway, however this does make the barrier sections less portable and does require more labor.

Low-Profile Concrete Barriers – Low Profile barriers are manufactured utilizing the opposite design of the Jersey Barriers. These barriers slope inward making them slimmer at the bottom. This reverse design causes the vehicle bumper to be pushed down rather then lifting it. Low-Profile barriers are often used in areas where driver site distance could be impaired by utilizing a higher profile barrier. They were introduced by the Texas Department of Transportation but have only been crash-tested with smaller vehicles at approximately 45 mph. It has not been tested utilizing higher speeds or larger vehicles so their effectiveness under these conditions remains unknown.

Each barrier serves a valuable purpose depending on the road conditions and project. Of all the barrier types the F-Type has been proven to be the most advanced and effective of the barriers while the Jersey barrier is the most widely used barrier available and has proven to be a very effective safety barrier by employing a variety of adaptations while minimizing vehicle damage upon impact.