Traffic Barriers

Plastic, water filled and crash tested traffic barriers

The range divides by job: plastic barriers mark and guide, utility barriers enclose openings in the ground, self-weighted and water filled barriers hold a perimeter, crash tested systems contain a vehicle, and track barriers and goalposts cover the special cases.

Chapter 8 plastic road barriers

Lightweight plastic road barriers are the everyday choice for roadworks, footpath works and site boundaries, where the task is to show where the work starts and keep pedestrians on a defined route. The Chapter 8 road barriers link end to end into a continuous run and lift by hand. On busy city centre footpaths and crossings, the Centurion traffic barrier is a common choice for separating large numbers of people from vehicles. The Avalon Chapter 8 barrier is used on indoor and outdoor work sites, and the European traffic barrier links with its heavy footplate into a run that is very hard to knock over.

Heavy duty and self-weighted barriers

Self-weighted barriers carry enough mass in their own moulding to stand without water, sand or added ballast, so there is no filling or draining on short jobs. The Wonder Wall heavy duty traffic barrier is a solid plastic wall that stands without water or ballast, for road edges and site boundaries beside traffic. The Oaklog self-weighted barrier is a rigid one-piece unit with interlocking joints for temporary or semi-permanent blockades, and the Road Runner 500 self-weighted barrier manages light vehicle traffic and pedestrian flow on sites, at events and at roadworks.

Utility and manhole barriers

An opening in the ground needs a barrier that closes it off on every side and follows its shape. Three and four sided utility barriers enclose a manhole, inspection chamber or small pit, with the four sided set for an opening in open footpath and the three sided set where one side meets a wall or building line. The Olympic barrier has hinged wings that rotate and lock at right angles, so a set can be shaped around an irregular footpath excavation. For a long utility trench, the heavy duty plank barrier system builds a run of bases, posts and planks that extends as the dig advances.

Water filled road barriers

Water filled barriers are light to place when empty and heavy once filled, so they suit perimeters and lane closures that stay in place for weeks or months. The full selection sits under water filled road barriers, and the water filled barrier with mesh fence extension is the one to choose when the line also needs height.

Crash tested barriers

Crash tested barriers are the choice where a vehicle leaving the carriageway must be stopped before it reaches the workforce. The RB22 crash tested water barrier and the Defender50 crash barrier are both water filled, and the Defender50 has been tested with fence panels fitted on top. The construction site pit lane is built from SVEA concrete barriers and designed around a site's access, with gates, lighting, matting and hoarding as options.

Track barriers

Track barriers are low, interlocking units that line indoor and outdoor racetracks and motorsport venues, and they curve to follow a bend without leaving gaps between sections. The RB500 low track barrier is the lowest in the series and the RB1500 track barrier is a medium height barrier for racetracks, with the RB1000 and RB1300 completing the series.

Height restriction goalposts

Goalposts are a warning at height: telescopic poles carry bunting or a solid crossbar across a route so that drivers of plant, tippers and lorries see overhead power lines or structures before they reach them. Height restriction goalposts come as two-post sets or as a single cantilever arm.

Feet, ballast and colours for plastic road barriers

Standard or anti-trip feet

Standard feet suit carriageway and site use, where the barrier line is not itself a walking route. Where people walk along the run, on a footpath diversion or a pedestrian route through a site, anti-trip feet are the better choice, because they are shaped to reduce the trip hazard at the base of each barrier. Most plastic barriers in the range come with either foot, and replacement road barrier feet in both types fit the plastic Chapter 8 barriers when one is lost or damaged.

Wind exposure and ballast

Plastic barriers are light, and on open roads, bridges, car parks and coastal sites the wind is what moves them. Barriers such as the Olympic and the Centurion are wind tested from Class C up to Class A, and the higher classes are reached with ballast added at the feet. On an exposed run, fit a road barrier stabiliser to each barrier, or choose a self-weighted barrier such as the Wonder Wall, which stands without ballast.

Colours and branded barriers

The five barrier colours let a large site run its own colour code, so that each contractor's work areas can be told apart at a glance: blue road barriers around one firm's excavations, for example, and green road barriers around another's. Yellow road barriers and white road barriers extend the code to separate phases or activities, or match a client's colours. The code belongs to the site, so it goes into the induction and the site rules, since drivers and the public will not know it.

On larger orders, branded road barriers carry a company logo on a plate, and the Centurion's centre plate takes a logo or a message such as Stop or Caution.