Plastic Jersey Barriers, most commonly orange and white in color, are frequently used on road projects and in construction zones.  They are highly visible to motorists, reducing the potential for collisions.  In cases where there is impact with these barriers, there will be less damage to vehicles than when concrete barriers are used.

Municipalities, departments of transportation, and public works departments often use Plastic Jersey barriers as traffic barriers for short-term projects.  They are used as medians, or lane dividers.

In addition to providing cost savings, water-filled Plastic Jersey barriers – made of heavy-duty, low-density polyethylene – can be quickly deployed and moved with relative ease.  Two people can easily move plastic traffic barriers, and they require less storage space than concrete Jersey barriers.

One particular model, the Guardian 350 Highway Barrier, is particularly designed for use as a traffic barrier.  These barriers have met National Cooperative Highway Research Program standards for safety in traffic zones.

Guardian plastic safety barrier is a light weight water filled safety barrier which is used around construction sites and other areas where crowd control is required. These plastic safety barriers can be easily installed in areas that have to be secured. The reason why these safety barriers are widely used is due to the following advantages:

• High Visibility: The Guardian Safety Barrier comes in a wide array of bright fluorescent colors such as orange, yellow, red, white and green which are easily visible even in the dark. This feature finds their use in construction sites or highways where the motorists would be able to see them during the night.
• High Durability: The Guardian Safety Barrier is UV protected. Thus it will not be affected by sun’s rays even after prolonged exposure. Since this safety barrier is made of plastic, it does not rot or rust in any temperature conditions. Another good feature of this safety barrier is that it does not fade, hence it could be used for a very long time without losing its functionality.
• Reusability: The main advantage of using this kind of plastic water filled safety barrier is that it can be emptied and taken to another location once it has served its purpose in a particular location.
• Space Saving Design: The Guardian safety barrier is designed in such a way that it can be stacked one on top of the other saving a lot of storage space. This feature allows large number of safety barriers to be shipped to any location very easily. There are no screws or other movable parts and hence does not require any assembling. The safety barrier just needs water to be filled and it will be ready to use.
• Easy Installation: These safety barriers are very easy to install as they are light weight. It does not require many people to install it and hence can be used in emergencies very efficiently. Once installed it can easily be shifted around wherever required. Maintaining these safety barriers is also an easy task as they come in a single piece.

Due to such remarkable features which promise safety and security wherever it is installed, the Guardian plastic safety barrier find its use in many areas. Some of them are as follows:

Vehicular Traffic Control:

These safety barriers find their use on highways where there is a heavy flow of traffic. They can act as medians separating two roads. They can even be used to divide the road into separate lanes to segregate different kinds of motorists. Since they are water filled safety barriers, in case of an accident, if a vehicle rams against them it will not be impacted much. Thus it saves the motorists from fatal injuries. Due to their visibility they are highly efficient for this kind of traffic control.

Construction Sites:

The Guardian Safety Barrier can be used on construction sites where there is a presence of large number of workers. This would warn others from entering into the site and prevent them from getting injured in case some construction material falls off from one of the top floors where work is going on.

Large Industries:

These barriers are commonly used in construction industries which have large machines. Plastic safety barriers can be used to isolate the area containing the machinery to help keep workers from wandering into dangerous zones.

In Case of Emergency:

The Guardian Safety Barrier can be used wherever isolation of any area has to be done at a short notice. For instance these safety barriers could be used on a crime scene or accident area, to prevent general public to interfere with the procedures. When there are natural calamities these safety barriers can be used to isolate the affected areas. Since the Guardian safety barriers can be easily transported and assembled, they are highly useful in case of an emergency.

The Guardian Plastic Safety Barriers provide great safety and security features. Thus they could be used in many areas where there is a possibility of an accident happening. Plastic safety barriers, when properly used, can greatly increase the speed and efficiency in which aid is delivered.

Many tests are conducted at various levels to assess the strength of the longitudinal barriers whose main function is to prevent penetration of vehicles and to safely move the vehicle away from the road side. The products are tested at three levels.

Level 1: This is the test for the most basic product. In this test, a vehicle running at a speed of 50 km/hour (31mph) will impact the product at angles of 20-25 degrees. This basic crash test should be done to comply with the requirements of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. The products failing this test should be scrapped or used for alternative purposes such as recreational sports or crowd control, but cannot be used as barriers at any other place. There are two sections which are examined in the process of passing the product. One of them is the part of the barrier designed to contain and redirect the errant vehicle which is known as the Length of Need and the other is the part of the barrier between the connecting sections known as the Transition. Once the product passes this test, it will be acceptable for low speed work zones and also low volume, low speed streets and highways. This is because the areas are less prone to vehicle penetration and also when they hit the barrier, they generally hit with speeds less than 50 km/hour in these areas as the speed limit is less in those areas.

Level 2: This is an intermediate level of crash testing. In this level, the vehicle running at a speed of 70 km/hour (43.5 mph) will impact the barrier at similar angles of 20-25 degrees as in level 1. Again, the two sections including the Length of Need and Transition are examined before passing the product. Once the barrier is qualified at this level, they can be accepted at most local and collector roads and many work zones. If the product fails at this level, it can be tested for Level 1 before scrapping it. If it passes level 1, it can be used in low volume, low speed streets and highways or some low volume work zones. This test was also conducted in November 1994 on Guardian 350 Highway Barriers and they passed the criteria for Level 2. It can be deduced that the Level 2 products need to be stronger and more shock resistant when compared to the Level 1 product as they are used in most local and collector roads where the speeds are generally higher than low speed streets and highways.

Level 3: This is the highest standard level of crash testing applicable to the longitudinal barriers. In this level, the vehicle running at a high speed of 100 km/hour (62.1 mph) will impact the product at the same angle 20-25 degrees as in the Level 1 and Level 2. As before, the two sections are examined (Length of the Need and Transition) at the end of the test before passing the product. It is to this level that most crash-tested safety features in use on U.S. highways have been qualified. Once a highway barrier qualifies at this level, they are acceptable for a wide range of high speed arterial highways .If they fail this test, then they will be tested on the earlier two levels to find the suitable position for the product. The product is placed accordingly.

Although these tests are of the utmost importance to the safety of roadways, construction zones, and various high traffic areas, many companies have found a loophole to circumvent these standards. Manufacturers and retailers of highway barriers are permitted to self-conduct these tests to ensure their products meet safety standards. However, often times these tests are not conducted and the company approves the barriers for level 3 usage regardless.

Tamis Corporation offers one of the select few highway barriers that have been tested approved on all 3 levels by an independent corporation making its products the safest and most reliable barriers in the industry. These Guardian Barriers have passed inspection and testing by The Texas Transportation Institute which currently stands as the largest transportation research agency in the United States.  Here you can view video of the highway barrier deflection test results.

In 1994, The Texas Transportation Institute tested the Guardian 350 Highway Barrier at levels 1, 2, and 3, where it proved to be acceptable in each. In July 2002, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration published a letter to the Armorcast Products Company stating that the modified design of the Guardian 350 Highway Barrier can be considered equivalent to the original Guardian Highway Barrier. Therefore, the Guardian 350 Highway Barriers can be used on the National Highway System (NHS) as National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 test level 3 (TL-3) traffic barriers.

Especially for short term usage, Plastic Jersey Barrier is a viable alternative to concrete Jersey Barrier – especially when considering overall safety in the work zone and potential insurance and law suit claims.

The majority of vehicular injuries in road construction accidents occur to the passengers in the vehicle and not to the construction workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2007, almost 9 drivers or passengers are killed for every highway worker. When you consider the G-Forces involved a concrete Jersey Barrier collision, these statistics are not surprising.

Plastic Jersey offers a unique alternative that will help minimize the risk to highway workers and also help improve the safety of vehicle occupants in a barrier impact situation.  As seen in the above video, the deflection of properly installed plastic highway barricades is adequate in many situations. The impact force drops from a high of 23 G’s in a 25 degree impact on a concrete Jersey barrier down to a high of 12 G’s in water filled Plastic Jersey Barrier impact.

The plastic Jersey barrier has clear advantages over concrete barriers in force absorption and this can lead to real savings in insurance claims and law suits to the contractor.

If you would like more information on suitable applications for plastic highway barriers, contact a specialist at PlasticJersey.com at 866-808-7427 or contact us online.

There are also instances where a plastic barrier may not be the best choice.

To fully understand their uses, let’s explore some of the advantages and disadvantages of using plastic barriers.

Before we discuss the pros and cons of using plastic barriers, we should explain what they are. Plastic barriers are hollow plastic structures that are formed from polyethylene. They are manufactured to be lightweight and portable, some gaining additional strength and stability from being filled with water or sand once they are onsite. They are effective for traffic control on highways and around worksites. Plastic barriers are also very useful for crowd control and pedestrian walkways. They are available in various shapes, sizes, colors and price ranges.

Here are some of the advantages of utilizing plastic barriers for your next project.

Light Weight

Plastic barriers are made of a light weight polyethylene which is much lighter than traditional concrete barriers. The lighter design makes these barriers very portable and a great option for temporary worksites and events. Trucking costs are also substantially lower due to the lighter design. Since they are not permanently attached to the ground, they can be reused many times which will save the cost of having to purchase new barriers.

Less Labor Intensive

Their portability and lightweight also means they are less labor intensive and can be handled and installed easily by two individuals. Many designs allow for movement of the barriers with a forklift. Special 6” wide grooves designed into the barriers allow for easy lifting and relocation. The male / female interlocking design makes it easy to create a continuous wall without the use of cables or pins.

Color Variations

The polyethylene plastic comes in a wide variety of brilliant colors which allow them to be easily seen even from a distance. Visibility is a vital component of the plastic barriers effectiveness. An ultraviolet light inhibitor is added to the plastic to insure the colors won’t fade when exposed to long periods of sunlight.  Since the barriers are made from polyethylene, they are 100% recyclable and will not end up in landfills.

Customizable

In addition to the colorful plastic, these barriers are made to accommodate lights, signage, and reflectors for added visibility. Custom logos can also be incorporated into the design during the tooling process, which can help prevent theft of your barriers from jobsites.

Durability

Each barrier is molded to a thickness of 8mm to ensure they do not burst upon filling. They will not crack or break under normal use and are built to withstand the elements over long periods of time. They also have large drains to prevent water from backing up behind the barriers.

Barrier Sizes

There are a variety of sizes and design available, from the standard Jersey barrier heights of 42 and 46 inches to the taller 54 inch design and the low model barriers which are generally 24 to 34 inches in height. The lower heights are ideal when visibility may be impaired by utilizing a higher barrier. Plastic barriers are a great choice for temporary projects which may require continued relocation of the barriers. They can be moved between worksites or events with ease and stored when not in use.
Plastic barriers are also available for specialty installation such as highways and military operations.

Plastic Jersey Highway Barrier

Highway Barriers

The highway barriers meet the specifications of the NCHRP (National Cooperative Highway Research Program) Report 350, “Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features”, making them effective in containing vehicle failures up to 60 MPH. The highway barriers include metal reinforcements on both sides which give them the added stability for this application.

Blast Barriers

Plastic blast barriers are also available for military use. Filled with either sand or water they prove to be effective for many applications including, anti-terrorism, building security, blast mitigation, and force protection. The combination of strength and portability make them an ideal choice.

Disadvantage

While the advantages of plastic barriers are quite prevalent there are also some disadvantages to using plastic barriers. Most are based on their strength limits when utilized in areas where large vehicles like tractor trailers and construction vehicles are more apt to collide with the barriers. They will not provide the same level of protection against workers and equipment that concrete barriers are able to.

Conclusion

Plastic barriers are a great choice for roadway safety, crowd control, and parking installations. They are lightweight, portable and more cost-effective than concrete barriers while providing the level of safety necessary for your project. However, it is important to understand the weaknesses they do possess to allow for proper adaptations and precautions to be taken in specialty situations.