Crashbarrier thread

[Penn's Woods]

"Regime afgestemd op Wallonië" ?! :-O

Does Wimpie know? ;-)

And can we assume Wallonia does this too?

There are way fewer permanently-lighted stretches than I expected.

[Glodenox]

I could be wrong, but I think Wallonia already started doing this a couple of years ago.

[GROBIN]

Originally Posted by ChrisZwolle

[img]
However there is a problem as Belgian road markings and reflective signs are very inferior.

It's true ! This summer, when I was coming back to the Île-de-France region, I went through Dutch A67/E34. Big surprise entering the Belgian section of the E34. No lights and almost no reflective marking.

Really horrible to drive by night ! Looks like Belgium didn't prepare to switch off its lighting; that this crisis led to sudden cuts ...

[Republica]

i think the uk is going to all concrete now. i think this is because they are less likely to mean a central reservation crossing, which are always catastrophic. also, as cars get stronger, they care less about not damaging the car as they are safer. car deaths are dropping dramatically in the uk from a low base, and around the world i guess.

[Chilio]

So Belgians are getting trained for driving on Bulgarian roads at night

[muc]

Designed to rust: Barriers made of COR-TEN steel on Autostrada del Brennero (A22) in Italy:


by Tormic http://www.panoramio.com/user/104881...to_id=31175964

This is probably as "unshiny" as it gets.

[bogdymol]

@radi: what do you think of this one?



More pictures here.

[shpirtkosova]

Wow thats very shiny! Even the paint is shiny!

[GROBIN]

Ouch my eyes !

[WalkTheWorld]

Originally Posted by muc

Designed to rust: Barriers made of COR-TEN steel on Autostrada del Brennero (A22) in Italy:


by Tormic http://www.panoramio.com/user/104881...to_id=31175964

This is probably as "unshiny" as it gets.

Ooops, I just logged in to post A22 pics. You were faster, mate.

I haven't seen other Corten steel barriers around. I still wonder whether it's just the cost or people plain thinks it's ugly... It's so distinctive we eventually got to love it.

[WalkTheWorld]

Originally Posted by Republica

i think the uk is going to all concrete now. i think this is because they are less likely to mean a central reservation crossing, which are always catastrophic. also, as cars get stronger, they care less about not damaging the car as they are safer. car deaths are dropping dramatically in the uk from a low base, and around the world i guess.

I noticed that, as everybody moves away from New Jersey barriers, the UK is installing them everywhere. Strange. I think this is basically because the road safety regulation clearrly defines the design and shape of steel barriers to a standard which is a bit outdated and weak for our age -pity. Surely steel would help the local economy better and would also look better. PS, kinda hate your "egg-slicers"

[shpirtkosova]

Its not shiny!!!

[Ingenioren]

Originally Posted by WalkTheWorld

I haven't seen other Corten steel barriers around. I still wonder whether it's just the cost or people plain thinks it's ugly... It's so distinctive we eventually got to love it.

We have them in Norway: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...443589&page=69

[WalkTheWorld]

Originally Posted by Ingenioren

We have them in Norway: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...443589&page=69

Haill the corten people. Very peculiar design indeed.

[Fargo Wolf]

http://v4.cache6.c.bigcache.googleap...rect_counter=1

At least they were shiny back in 09.

Credit: Wester

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/20605507

Most of the crash barriers in British Columbia, is concrete No-Post barrier.

[ed110220]

Originally Posted by WalkTheWorld

I noticed that, as everybody moves away from New Jersey barriers, the UK is installing them everywhere. Strange. I think this is basically because the road safety regulation clearrly defines the design and shape of steel barriers to a standard which is a bit outdated and weak for our age -pity. Surely steel would help the local economy better and would also look better. PS, kinda hate your "egg-slicers"

Is a "New Jersey barrier" just an ordinary concrete crash barrier? What countries are moving away from them? As far as I was aware, the opposite was the case.

As I understand it a concrete barrier is safer than a steel one because: a) a vehicle is less likely to breach it, b) a vehicle hitting it at a small angle will scrape it or bounce off rather than become embedded or sliced open, c) if a person is thrown from a vehicle the risk of critical injury or death by being dashed/sliced against the upright supports or sharp edges of a steel barrier is greater.

In addition, in South Africa there is often a problem with pedestrians illegally crossing freeways, especially where informal settlements (shantytowns) are found nearby. A tall concrete crash barrier deters illegal pedestrian crossing much better than a steel one that can easily be climbed over.

There is also the question of cost. I suspect that the relative prices of steel and concrete are different in different parts of the world. In the UK steel seems much more widely used for railings/guard rails on bridges etc, while the South African equivalent is usually concrete. Same with bridges - some countries favour steel, others concrete.

It seems though that I'm wrong about South Africa switching away from steel entirely: a lot of nice shiny new crash barrier has been installed around Johannesburg.

[shpirtkosova]

Is it possible that Crash Barriers can sometimes be so shiny that they reflect sunlight into your eyes?

[WalkTheWorld]

Originally Posted by ed110220

Is a "New Jersey barrier" just an ordinary concrete crash barrier? What countries are moving away from them? As far as I was aware, the opposite was the case.

As I understand it a concrete barrier is safer than a steel one because: a) a vehicle is less likely to breach it, b) a vehicle hitting it at a small angle will scrape it or bounce off rather than become embedded or sliced open, c) if a person is thrown from a vehicle the risk of critical injury or death by being dashed/sliced against the upright supports or sharp edges of a steel barrier is greater.

In addition, in South Africa there is often a problem with pedestrians illegally crossing freeways, especially where informal settlements (shantytowns) are found nearby. A tall concrete crash barrier deters illegal pedestrian crossing much better than a steel one that can easily be climbed over.

There is also the question of cost. I suspect that the relative prices of steel and concrete are different in different parts of the world. In the UK steel seems much more widely used for railings/guard rails on bridges etc, while the South African equivalent is usually concrete. Same with bridges - some countries favour steel, others concrete.

It seems though that I'm wrong about South Africa switching away from steel entirely: a lot of nice shiny new crash barrier has been installed around Johannesburg.

Sorry for my late reply. I honestly don't know why we do call the "new jersey" here. It has always been like that. Reverse V shaped concrete barriers, that became popular in the 80's. They originally allowed to provide some protection on dual carriageways here you input had a double eviterà stripe between flows of vehicles. They are being replaced by steel mainly because of ageing concrete becoming brittle and unsafe.

[Fargo Wolf]

Originally Posted by shpirtkosova

Is it possible that Crash Barriers can sometimes be so shiny that they reflect sunlight into your eyes?

Well, it is entirely possible, given their shape.

[ed110220]

Originally Posted by WalkTheWorld

Sorry for my late reply. I honestly don't know why we do call the "new jersey" here. It has always been like that. Reverse V shaped concrete barriers, that became popular in the 80's. They originally allowed to provide some protection on dual carriageways here you input had a double eviterà stripe between flows of vehicles. They are being replaced by steel mainly because of ageing concrete becoming brittle and unsafe.

Perhaps it is a climate thing? The UK has a relatively mild climate compared with much of the USA (less risk of frost damage) and the parts of South Africa subject to severe frosts all tend to be dry in the winter so little risk of freeze-thaw damage.

This section of the M25 in the UK used to have a steel barrier but has been reconstructed with a concrete one: http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=51.3592...358.9,,0,11.71

In South Africa freeways were often built with quite a wide median with steel barrier and were later widened by adding an extra lane to each carriageway in what used to be the median, separated with a concrete barrier like this: http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=-26.056...245.88,,0,1.41

Quite a lot of the concrete work of UK motorways built in the 1960s became defective surprisingly early, from the 1980s onwards. I'm not aware of problems with concrete from South African works of the same period suffering extensive problems.