Archive for February, 2010
Traffic Channelizers – Explained
This post doesn’t describe each type or brand of traffic channelizer out there, but gives information about the different options in the industry. These traffic channelizers can be found on the highway, sometimes with blinking barricade lights on the top. The basic term traffic channelizer can mean any traffic safety product that “channelizes” traffic, but for the purpose of this post we are sticking with the orange traffic drums.
Before picking your traffic channelizer, try and find out your country’s or state’s regulations as far as reflective tape size/quality. Reflective tape can come in 4″ or 6″ bands, and it can be EG (engineer grade), HI (Hi-Intensity grade), or DG (diamond grade). Different brands have different heights, but the average is around 40″ tall. Same goes for the diameter of the base of the drum.
Traffic Cone Damage
One motorist describes an incident where other motorists drove over traffic cones. One road safety worker was dropping cones off the back of a moving truck onto a lane that was under construction. The problem was that he wasn’t as careful as he should have been, and one of the traffic cones landed in a lane under use.
Most oncoming traffic was able to avoid the cone, but one motorist was confused and went directly into it. The traffic cone went under the vehicle and was dragged for a few feet. The motorist didn’t think much of it, took the squished cone out from under the car, and kept driving. It’s impressive that there was no damage, but this raises two questions that user “edisdead” from honestjohn.co.uk brought up. Why were the maintenance crews being reckless, and would the traffic cones do more damage if they had heavy bases?
Uses of Delineator Posts
Most people don’t know what a delineator post is. It’s main function is to mark an area so that cars and construction equipment know not to go beyond those markings. They usually have reflective tape so that even at night cars know where not to go.
Delineator posts are meant to be impact resistant, but how resistant they are depends on the brand. I am not going to go into brands in this post, but some can take impacts up to 60 MPH+ and still be okay. Delineator posts can come with bases, with stakes that go into the ground or pavement (though pre-made holes are necessary to stick delineators into pavement or a hard surface.