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Archive for July, 2013

Comments Off on What are Airport Barricades?

What are Airport Barricades?

Friday, July 26, 2013 By: admin

airport barricadeI decided to answer the question ‘What are airport barricades?’ because I know the frustration that comes with a boss coming up and asking you to purchase something that you know nothing about.  First comes the Google search, which may not actually come up with any sort of definition of the product but just a picture of it.  Ok, so now you need to know what that orange and white striping is.  And is this even the right size?

No need to worry, I will break down what airport barricades are for you here.  First let’s start off with the different names.  The technical name is airport barricade but it can be called airport barrier or 10 x 96 barrier or even low profile airport barricade.  The size of the barricades can be either 10″ x 96″ or 24″ x 96″.  There are some that are 8″ tall but they are less common.  The 10 x 96 is your most common barrier.

Once you know the size, you will want to find out if reflective sheeting is needed.  The orange and white stripes are the reflective sheeting.  The grade of sheeting is almost always Hi Intensity, and not only do you need it for just about every project but you need it on both sides of the barricade as well.

Now to move onto the lights, you are going to need red solar 360 degree airport lights.  Most are FAA approved but check with your vendor (ours are).  Also if you are getting the lights from a different source (or you are told the lights have already been purchased) make sure the lights will fit the airport barricade.  Since the lights screw in, you need to know the diameter and height of the screw-hole as well as the threading on the light.

The last part is the flags.  These are not always necessary I have lots of customers purchase these barricades without the flags but some projects require them.  Do you need 1 or 2 flags per barricade?  Does the barricade have the holes for the flags?  All questions you need to find out.  A typical airport flag is 18″ x 18″ or 20″ x 20″ and is all orange.  It has a dowel (the part of the flag you hold) which is usually wood.

And that’s about it.  If you stumbled upon this page and were wondering what their function is, they are usually used on airport runways that are under construction and the lights/flags/reflective sheeting help delineate the runway so airplanes can see where the runway is at all times.

We sell all of these products, you can find the airport barricades, flags and lights on my website at https://www.trans-supply.com/c-9-airport-supply.aspx

Comments Off on What are Jersey Barriers?

What are Jersey Barriers?

Monday, July 22, 2013 By: admin

jersey barrierJersey barriers are known as K-rail to the western US (California Department of Transportation came up with K-rail).  They are either concrete or plastic barrier walls used during highway construction to separate opposing lanes of traffic.  The barriers we sell are plastic water fill-able barriers.  They are easier to ship than concrete barriers because they weigh a lot less.

A typical jersey barrier is 32″ tall but lots are also 42″ tall.  The first picture to the left is a 42 x 72″ water fill-able barrier.  Jersey barriers were invented in New Jersey in the 1950’s at the Stevens Institute of Technology.  The main goal of the barrier is to prevent head on collisions from the other lane when a vehicle goes off course.

highway barrierThe official name for a 42″ tall barrier is an Ontario Tall Wall.  The Ministry of Transportation in Ontario, Canada is replacing guardrails these these taller-jersey barriers on some 400-series highways.

It is important to note that the first barrier pictured on the left is not approved for use on highways by the FHWA but the second barrier you see on the left is.  It’s called an MB350 barrier and is actually safer than a concrete barrier in a crash.  This barrier meets the TL3 compliance by FHWA when 33 barriers are interconnected in a row, and each barrier must be ballasted to equal 1,500lbs.

It’s also popular to use jersey barriers to provide some protection against possible terrorist attacks.  They have even been used in the G-20 summit to prevent protesters from getting in restricted territory.  We sell the MB350 here http://www.trans-supply.com/p-552-highway-jersey-barrier.aspx and the 42 x 72 (first one) here: http://www.trans-supply.com/p-378-42-x-72-jersey-style-lcd.aspx

Comments Off on What’s inside a traffic barrel?

What’s inside a traffic barrel?

Thursday, July 18, 2013 By: admin

traffic barrelsI decided to tackle this one because I saw this a few times being asked on the internet.  First off, it’s good to take a look at the following images to make sure we are talking about the same traffic barrel.  The first image is typically called a traffic barrel where the second is called a crash barrel or crash cushion.

The orange traffic barrel has nothing in it, the inside is hollow.  They are not meant to be filled with anything and wouldn’t work well if they were.  These are used more for visual delineation and not an actual crash cushion.  The yellow crash cushions are typically placed right before a k rail or right at an exit where if someone was to crash, it would be particularly dangerous.  They are either filled with sand or water.

sand barrel, yellow traffic barrelA little fun fact for you: the sizes of the yellow barrels vary because they hold different weights of sand.  The first one you see there can hold 200, 400 or 700lbs of sand, the back left can hold 2100lbs and the back right can hold 1400lbs.  In order to ‘cushion a crash’ in the safest possible way, there is actually a proper layout that must be followed based on the weight of the sand barrel.

So the moral of the story, if you have to crash into one of the two barrels, you will be better off with the yellow because it will stop you faster than the drums.  Of course, let’s all just hope we never get in a car accident and we never have to think about such a thing!

If you are in the market for traffic barrels here is our orange barrel and here is our yellow sand barrel.  If you have questions on either of these feel free to either comment on this post or contact us through the website where these can be purchased (linked in the previous sentence).

Comments Off on What exactly are traffic delineators?

What exactly are traffic delineators?

Tuesday, July 16, 2013 By: admin

traffic delineatorsIf you are reading this you probably are trying to figure out what traffic delineators are because you were asked to purchase some yet have never heard of them before.  Well, the image to the left is one of the more common delineators, it’s basically just a taller traffic cone (typically 42″ versus a 28″ traffic cone) that is a straight up and down post.

The yellow/white bands at the top of the posts are reflective, making them easier to be seen.  Also, these require bases to stand up properly, which are not pictured here.  They range from 8lb to 20lbs typically, I would recommend 12lbs or higher.

The top of the delineators can either be flat top, Ringtop, T Top, etc.  Ringtops and T Tops or Grabber Tops are easier to pick up and move from the top handle, or thread rope/caution tape through.

We carry a few different versions of delineators click here to see our selection.

Comments Off on What is Reflective Tape?

What is Reflective Tape?

Friday, July 12, 2013 By: admin

reflective sheetingReflective tape is usually used in the traffic safety industry to make the products easier to be seen during the day and night.  The reflective collars as they can be called, are usually at the top of the product and can be seen on traffic cones, traffic barricades and more.

I would also like to point out there is reflective sheeting like what is pictured to the left, where it is an orange and white stripe and this is typically seen on a barricade.  Now a straight orange or straight white colored reflective collar is something you will see on traffic cones or delineators.

There are also different grades: Engineer grade is the most basic but works for most applications.  Hi Intensity sheeting is one step above, will reflect more and costs more.  Diamond grade has the highest amount of reflective and will cost the most.