Every business, job site, and event is valuable, which can make determining the right level of protection difficult. Differing barrier sizes, styles, and materials can further complicate your search. Fortunately, following a short checklist of considerations can make your barrier selection a breeze.
Before You Start: Know Your Barriers
In order to choose the right barrier for your business, it’s best to understand the different types of concrete barriers and their uses.
- Jersey Barriers: The most common barrier style, Jersey barriers are the preferred choice for highway and traffic applications. Specially designed with sloping faces, these structures deflect cars safely away from oncoming traffic in a collision.
- Concrete Planters: Steel-reinforced concrete planters in a variety of shapes and sizes can form a barrier around a building or site while enhancing aesthetics.
- Deco Barriers: Offering the same stability and durability as Jersey barriers, decorative barriers in a variety of designs can be used for pedestrian pathways, retaining walls, and other permanent boundaries.
- Bin Blocks: Stackable and interlocking, bin blocks are often used to create holding areas for aggregate materials, such as mulch, soil, or gravel
- L Panels & Concrete Walls: These large, flat concrete panels are typically used as a continuous barrier for industrial structures or as sound barriers along noisy roadways.
To determine which is the right barrier style for your needs, it helps to start with a checklist. These five steps can help you choose the perfect fit for your business or project needs.
Step 1: Determine Your Needs
First, what do you want your barriers to do? It may seem obvious, but taking the time to think about how you’ll use your barriers will help you choose the right barriers for your needs.
If you’re not sure of the best use for barriers, conduct a risk assessment of your property or project. This will expose what kinds of hazards you need to protect against.
Do you need to protect workers or job sites from high-speed oncoming traffic? If so, Jersey barriers are the industry standard for traffic protection because of their ability to deflect collisions. They’re even used in race tracks to guide drivers and protect spectators and work teams.
Do you need to demarcate pedestrian walkways or deter vehicular entry to certain areas? A solid, continuous barrier isn’t always necessary in this case. Aesthetic barriers like concrete planters can guide pedestrians while also enhancing your property’s appearance.
Step 2: Assess Your Environment
Listing the conditions that your barriers will be subjected to will help in the selection process. Weather conditions, even potential storm and disaster mitigation efforts, can be hard on barriers. Plastic, water-filled, or even temporary steel fencing are not always designed to withstand these conditions. Fortunately, concrete is a solid, weather-resistent material.
Your project’s or property’s environment includes more than just weather. Consider pathways, roadways, and entry and exit points when selecting which style — and how many — barriers are right for your needs. If you need entry and egress points, ensure that your barrier spacing allows ample space for vehicles, equipment, and people. If visibility is key, lower profile barriers are a better choice than tall L-Panels and T-Walls.
The surface of your property is also an important factor. For loose ground, or property prone washing out, bin blocks or retaining walls might be preferred over standalone barriers.
Step 3: Establish a Timeline
Not all barriers need to be permanent installations. For construction projects, roadwork, or even events, concrete barriers can fill short-term protection needs, too. In those cases, basic or even used or rented barriers can satisfy your protection requirements without breaking the bank.
If your projects are longer-term, the look of your barriers might take higher importance. For permanent protection that enhances its surroundings, consider a decorative barrier or planter.
Step 4: Understand Your Compliance Obligations
Not all projects are subject to regulations, but it is vitally important to know your compliance obligations before starting. For traffic applications and construction sites, ensure that your choices satisfy any applicable safety standards for entry, egress, and crash ratings.
Step 5: Measure Twice, Cut Once
As the adage goes, double-check your space measurements before making your final decisions. Not only will you need to have space for the barriers themselves, but concrete is heavy, and some barriers require special machinery for placement. In your project plan, ensure you have the space (and the budget) for placement equipment, installation, and maintenance.
In this step, consider the lifespan of your barriers, too. Most concrete can last a lifetime without showing signs of aging, but should you ever need to replace a barrier, consider the space needed to maneuver during that process.
—
The right concrete barriers can be integral to your project’s protection plan. But navigating all the products on the market can be intimidating. Make the process easier and foolproof by following five simple steps before choosing your barriers. And if you ever feel like you need the assistance of a professional in your selection process, the team at 48 Barriers is here to help. Give us a call today to get started.
