Cement & Concrete Association of New Zealand - MUST READ!!!

[Fub@r]

This article crossed my desk today. We really need to approach these guys as they will have heaps of data confirming what we already know about concrete vs steel.

References for article:

http://www.sustainableconcrete.org.nz

http://www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/11569.aspx

http://www.concretebarrier.org.uk/overview/home.html

[Dodger]

I've passed this onto our roading designer here at work

[yungatart]

That makes for some interesting reading.
Initial cost of concrete vs other ..0.2 % higher, with a manitenance free lifespan of not less than 50 years!!
Gotta be better than WRB and armco!
I know what I'd rather they spend my money on...

[Fub@r]

I see that these guys are based in Wellington. Anyone of the Wellington group/representative is able to approach them and see whether we can help each other.

Courier Address:
Level 6, 142 Featherston Street
Wellington
New Zealand

Postal Address:
P O Box 448
Wellington 6140
New Zealand

Phone: 64 4 499 8820
Fax: 64 4 499 7760

[janno]

Good find Furb@r! I'm sure purely from an economic (as in increasing their profits) point of view they would be VERY interested in hearing our current concerns on other forms of road barrier, let alone any sort of altruistic concern.

[Dodger]

I was speaking to our road design guys here at work regarding concrete barriers.

One advantage they pointed out with the wire barriers is that they take up less room to INSTALL, as the concrete barriers have a much wider base.

This is the case with Wellington's Centennial Highway which has a confined space requirements.

[Fub@r]

I was speaking to our road design guys here at work regarding concrete barriers.

One advantage they pointed out with the wire barriers is that they take up less room to INSTALL, as the concrete barriers have a much wider base.

This is the case with Wellington's Centennial Highway which has a confined space requirements.

That is true. But for a wire rope barrier to function as they were intended there needs to be room for the car to "stretch" the ropes out.

Based on how they were designed they would be useless in a confined area as it wont prevent a head on collision. Most guidelines recommend a 3m offset to the lane to allow for this "stretching".

[Dodger]

It seems comes down to a wire barrier is better than no barrier in a confined location.

Yes, they need stretch room for the few seconds that a car hits, but when they are just sitting there doing nothing they don't need this extra room.

[MSTRS:Me]

It seems comes down to a wire barrier is better than no barrier in a confined location.

Yes, they need stretch room for the few seconds that a car hits, but when they are just sitting there doing nothing they don't need this extra room.

I don't understand the so-called claim of confined area. If one was to throw a tape measure over the white lines with either barrier between, there would be precious little difference and concrete does not need deflection room.
Besides, this argument goes out the window in the case of the Western Hutt MW, with it's nice median strip having been there for years.

[cooneyr]

Note the English findings were for roads with an AADT (Average Annual Daily Traffic) over 25000 vehicles per day. This may not compare to the costs etc for NZ but most of the motorways in Auck meet this.

Find out more about the CSB barriers.

Cheers R