Traffic Safety

When you buy a traffic drum, you will most likely be asked if you want a high (hi) density drum or a low (lo) density drum.  The difference is just the thickness of the plastic.  Some suppliers do not off this option, so you may not be asked depending on where you buy them.

Chances are it is only important to the buyer if it is important for the job.  The best way to know would be to research the requirements for the job or the project.  Checking over the requirements or calling the project designer is your best option for finding out what density your traffic drums need to be.

Traffic drums have reflective tape on them, something that a lot of people may not notice when driving by on the road.  Traffic drums provide protection from construction and warn drivers that there is a project going on.  Reflective tape has a couple different grades, so it can be more or less reflective.

It’s good to have the reflective tape reflect as much light as possible, but there is a price for higher grades.  The difference can be as much as $50 when you buy drums with Engineer vs Diamond grade sheeting.

You may notice them at night, you may notice them during the day.  When driving past a traffic drum, look real close and you will it’s usually accompanied by a barricade light.  The barricade light is mounted to the top of the drum by being bolted to the side.

Barricade lights or flashers as they are sometimes called are important for a variety of reasons.  During the night construction equipment can be hard to notice, so it gives us a heads up that there is something to pay attention to.  Traffic drums are a great way to let people know there is construction going on, but barricade lights are there to let us know the traffic drums are there.

Summer means construction season, and construction season means miles and miles of traffic drums, delineator posts, traffic cones, traffic message boards, etc.  It is easy to get frustrated or annoyed by them, but it’s important to know they are there for a reason.  They are there for your safety.

Traffic drums provide a barricade between construction and cars and trucks.  They sometimes have barricade lights on top of them to make them easier to see during the night.  They are their for your safety, not annoyance!

This post is a continue-um to the post on Tuesday talking about different traffic drum questions one may stumble upon and want answered prior to buying the traffic drums.  ‘Grade’ is a term referring to the reflective tape option on traffic drums.  Engineer Grade is the most common, Hi Intensity Grade is the next most common and Diamond Grade is the most rare.

Reflective tape is the reflective sheeting that is put on different traffic safety equipment to make it more visible at night.  And the base option for your traffic drum really depends on what the manufacturer offers, but something between 2 and 40lbs is where most of them are.  Bases can either be thrown over the top of the drum or snapped on.

If you have a traffic drum that has been run over it may be a good idea to look into ways to get it bent back to its original shape.  Traffic drums are very durable, but if they have been hit by a car they may be dented.  There are products out there that can take the dent out of hte traffic drum.

Anytime you have an issue with a traffic drum, I would first recommend calling the company you bought them from.  Chances are you bought them from a distributor, so if they don’t have the answer try reading the label on the drum to see if there is any info about where it was manufactured.  They typically have a better knowledge of their products.

Not only does a huge influx of traffic drums and other safety equipment during construction season anger most people, it can cause stress.  Traffic drums mean longer delays in your commute, and the anxiety of fitting your SUV between them in tight construction zones.

When you get to a spot where it is a pain to get through, the most important thing is to keep your speed down.  The slower you go, the less chance of a drum ending up underneath your car, and causing lots of damage.

Before you buy a traffic drum from a vendor, you may have a few questions.  What brand is best?  What does ‘grade’ mean when selecting reflective tape for my barricade?  What is reflective tape?  What are my base options?

All of these questions should be addressed before you purchase your traffic drums.  The brand of traffic drum doesn’t really change the quality, so try to focus more on the options that are available to you and not the brand name.

Commuting to work you may notice a large amount of traffic drums or traffic barrels on the side of the road.  They mean construction season because they are used to barricade the traffic from the construction on the side of the road.  You may even see blinking barricade lights on top of the traffic drum.

Traffic drums are typically either orange or yellow.  The orange ones have reflective bands, and the yellow ones are bigger and are usually found at the off ramps for exits.  They are filled with sand and used to cushion any potential impact.

Though it depends on the manufacturer of the traffic drums, here is an idea of the different options you may get when purchasing traffic drums.  There are different types of bases, but the snap on base typically comes in 25, 30 and 40 lb options.  The sand bag option is cheaper to ship because it allows the base to be filled with sand, therefore making the base weigh less.

There are also typical tire ring bases which are just drop overs.  They weigh about 2 lbs.  There are also tire ring bases which are around 28lbs.