CIN’s sister publication Contractor spoke to an Australian barrier-product manufacturer whose safety-barrier system is designed to maximise the safety of roadside workers by minimising barrier deflection.According to Ingal Civil Products national sales and marketing manager Terry Colquhoun, the company’s latest concrete barrier system, the Isolator, has eradicated the need for pins, connection plates and bolts.“One of the benefits of that is the segment can be removed at any location along the barrier system, so we don’t have to start from one end and work our way all the way down to the other end for removal,” Colquhoun told Contractor.He said the Isolator’s unique assembly system was beneficial for contractors who were working alongside passing traffic.“It is quite a hazardous environment, so you really want to minimise the amount of time that a worker spends on the roadside erecting and removing this barrier,” he said.Colquhoun said that because the Isolator was made of concrete, if a vehicle collided with the barrier, dynamic deflection was reduced and contractors working behind the barrier were less likely to be harmed.“A steel barrier can deflect up to four metres, and a plastic barrier can deflect up to seven metres, whereas the Isolator barrier will only deflect about one-and-a-half metres,” he said. “That means the Isolator can be placed closer to a roadside hazard than steel or plastic barriers. Also, the advantage of concrete is because it is a very strong barrier, it can largely remain functional after impact. So there is no need to go out there and replace damaged sections to the extent that you would have to with a steel or plastic barrier.”The Isolator has been crash tested and evaluated to comply with Australian Standard Test Level 3 (see fact box). A 2270kg pickup collided into the Isolator travelling at 100km per hour at a 25-degree angle and recorded a 1.5m deflection. “It is quite a severe impact,” Colquhoun said.The Isolator is 810mm high and 610mm wide and is available in 4m or 6m segments. The 4m segment can be field curved to a 30m radius and the 6m segment can be curved to a 49m radius.
