OT - Highway Impact Attenuator Damage

Just something I'm curious about...

I assume we've all seen the impact attenuators they put in front of concrete highway dividers and toll booths - the barrels of sand or large rubber bumbers. They're supposed to slow a vehicle down so they don't hit the solid obstruction at full speed.

Why do they mark them with orange cones after they get damaged?

Are they trying to tell drivers not to hit them because they won't they provide the anticipated protection?

As far as I know, drivers don't typically have the option of choosing where to have an accident. If we were able to avoid the impact attenuators when they are marked with cones, don't you think we'd avoid them at all times?

What's the point of marking them with "caution cones" when no one would actually consider hitting them even if they weren't damaged?

Reply to
DerbyDad03
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They are not barrels of sand, but barrels of water. They mark them for a couple of reasons. One to indicate damage to the safety devices and to help prepare regular commuters for future repair crews which will come to replace them. The notice to drivers is mostly a CYA for the governing authority.

Number two is that at certain times, someone MAY HAVE to choose where to have an accident. Being one who drags trailers around in the course of my work and working with some heavy equipment, if the choice is between hitting the little old lady, the school bus, or the collision barrels, I will choose the barrels. Unless they are damaged. Brakes fail and other problems occur which can make you have to choose.

Reply to
Robert Allison

re: They are not barrels of sand, but barrels of water

I guess it depends on where you drive.

As per this site, none of the devices approved for permanent installation use water, but one does use sand. Temp ones (e.g. construction sites) are allowed to use water.

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A doc found at an Ilinois site

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also mentions sand filled attenuators - granted it's 2006 doc, but the Washington site appears to be current.

The ones I've seen damaged (and marked with cones) were messy piles of plastic and sand.

Anyway, you mentioned that given the choice, you'd hit an unmarked barrier rather than an old lady, so I'll accept that as a valid reason for marking them. I certainly hope you never have to make that choice

- especially if it's marked with cones.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

re: They are not barrels of sand, but barrels of water.

As per this wa.gov site, none of the attenuators approved for permanent installations use water but one does use sand. Temp ones may use water.

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This doc from Illinois also mentions sand filled attenuators:

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The ones I've seen damaged and marked were always piles of sand and plastic. Maybe the water dried up. :-)

Anyway, your mention of making the choice the between an old lady and the attenuators makes sense. I certainly hope you never have to make that choice, and if you do, I hope the attenuator isn't marked by cones. I'd feel real sorry for the old lady.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I work for our state's DOT, during the winter. I set out plenty of barrels, when not keeping the xways free of snow & ice. Our barrels are empty, we place a dual rubber base to keep it in place. By hand, you can move these where ever you please. They are not meant to slow down a vehicle veering out of control.

It's a liability thing on the State's part. Being the crash attenuator is no longer functional, it must be marked. It relieves the state from liability from someone claiming the state put potential hazard in their right-of-way, intentionally.

If you look at any potential hazards in your State, chances are, they are marked. That is, unless the marking has become defaced. A call to your controlling authority, being local or DOT, will get the hazard fixed.....ASAP. This is not to say exit sign posts are to be marked, because they already use reflective letters or backing. Also, the post must be able to bend or shear, or both.

Two years ago, in different district than ours, they had piled snow in front of the exit signs, which are placed in the Gore (the triangle area between the roadway and exit). They had rain, then freeze. What they ended up with, was a giant ramp, which a vehicle had launched off of, when they missed the exit ramp. The state settled out of court on this, since the state had placed a hazard within their right-of-way.

Reply to
Kevin

He was talking about the yellow barrels, not the orange ones. Around here, the yellow ones are partially filled with sand, in two layers, one at bottom, and one in an inner lid. Water freezes and leaks. The just need to have enough mass so wind doesn't blow them around, and to create enough friction to break the contact patch between the skidding car and the ground. They may be ugly, but they work a lot better than the telescoping sections of armco rail, which tend to rust together. (They used to bury the rail approaches to avoid spearing people, until they realized that just provided a launching ramp for a keen stunt driver corkscrew.)

For awhile around here, they also went back to wood posts for the signs, predrilled to break in a certain way when hit, and corkscrew over the car instead of going through windshield. I guess they weren't durable enough- they seem to have gone back to metal the last few years.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

Hi aem,

I guess I should have _snipped_ the part about yellow barrels. I was replying to the part about the _orange cones_ being set out after an attenuator gets damaged. Instead of orange cones, we set out orange barrels.

Reply to
Kevin

An insurance lady I know says those barrels are about $1500 each once you hit em and hurt em.

Reply to
DanG

re: An insurance lady I know says those barrels are about $1500 each once you hit em and hurt em.

Ask her how much it costs if you hit and hurt an old lady or a school bus.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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