Highway Guard Rails Adding Safety to highway Users

Posted by Metal Barrier on April 10th, 2018

A well-laid infrastructure is a prerequisite for the urbanized societies and well-defined systems. Increase in Traffic in urban areas has led to an issue of road safety leading to increased casualties. The need of the hour for the government is to pay special attention to the transport Infrastructure of the country. Also, highway infrastructure is required to keep the economy and markets of any country functioning well.

Highway Guard Rails is one such product which is laid alongside roads to prevent any collisions or mishap happening due to heavy traffic. These might be extending alongside highway roads, flyovers, bridges acting as a barrier on sharp corners and downhill slopes. There are also Median Barriers which prevent the drivers from entering the adjacent lane accidently. They also minimize the intensity of collision protecting the fellow passengers from getting hurt. These are supplied to government authorities like NHAI and PWD and also to private players.

Types of Guardrail systems:

 The highway guardrails manufacture in India the following types of barriers:

•     W Beam Guardrails: Commonly referred as the 12-inch longitudinal panel. These reduce the severity of cross roadway collisions. Roll is molded in the shape of “W.” These are comparatively economical than other components. They are made from high strength 12 gauges (Class A) or 10 gauge (Class B) steel according to the standard specifications.

•     Tri-Beam Guardrails: This is also called 20-inch panel. They are durable because of its larger surface.

Most of the highway guardrails suppliers in India comply with ASHTO M-180 standard for corrugated steel sheets. The Guardrail is galvanized and coated with a layer of Zinc to prevent corrosion. There are suppliers in the market which provide Galvanized steel posts called beams. These are another set of accessories which form a part of such road safety projects. In some projects, wooden posts are also used to cut over costs.

Other standard specifications

•     Standard Post Spacing: 2 Mts is the standard
•     Steel Thickness: According to the standard steel thickness should be ideal 3mm
•     Hot dip galvanized - 550 gms/m2 or 460 gms/m2

Most Indian suppliers comply with the standards set by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH), so the quality of the components is not compromised. They like many others believe that quality compromised always poses a risk. This risk can be a loss of your goodwill or loss of someone’s life. In both the cases, it’s detrimental.