Selection of temporary barriers

Temporary barriers are a requirement for health and safety and the choice of type of deployment depends on a number of critical factors.

Duration of project

How long will you require the barrier for? This also has an impact on the type of barrier required for civil jobs. If over a set duration then your choices of barrier system are different and are heavily reliant on the risk profile for the task in hand

Environment

Regardless of the type of work we are looking to carry out. Environment is a huge aspect to consider when deploying protective barriers. This is also factored with a number of aspects mentioned below.

Shielding factor

How tall is the barrier system required? This can be sometimes dependant on the barrier application. However there is a huge risk dependant difference on the type of deployment is the shielding factor is not sufficient for task. Will the application of the barrier be sufficient to protect from small vehicles, or allow for a HGV to topple over? This all depends on the type of protection you are seeking for the site.

Application

As with every deployment of goods we hire, if the product fit for purpose? Are you looking for water filled, concrete, crash, highway safety or simple human barriers?

Road Worker Risk Score

When deploying barriers in a civil contract or pure road works environment, the worker risk score is paramount to consideration. It is a legal requirement to ensure the safety of road workers. Simple guidelines have been set out by the Health and Safety Executive document (currently http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/cis53.pdf).

Percentage of HGV’s on the road

The number of HGV’s traveling along the road is a consideration and has a bearing on the practical deployment of barriers.

Weight of the barrier system deployed

If a barrier system is forged out of reinforced construction grade concrete varying in weight (normally about 2.5 tonnes) this can mean you could have up to 10 tonnes of dead weight in a 12 meter span. Add the barrier to two lanes and that doubles the load, which could be detrimental in a weak bridge setting. Your structural team will have a better idea about the kind of load you can deploy. We can advise on alternative barrier systems to deploy.

Access for installation

Any barrier system hired from Top skips will require access for installation. This is not a major issue for crowd control barrier systems, which can be offloaded and assembled by hand. However when barrier systems are more comprehensive more planning for the delivery, deployment and storage is required.

Working Width of the barrier system

The working width of the barrier system is defined as the distance between the traffic side of the barrier before impact and the maximum lateral position after impact, plus any vehicle overhang that occurs.

Barrier installation risk (time to place)

How long will it take to install the barriers? If you are closing a lane of traffic, then when and how long the barrier system takes to install is crucial to the works in hand. Planning closure of routes to enable larger installation of barriers is often not an option so the aim is to install with the route open and use temporary barriers to protect the installation (use of cones to cordon off traffic flow during the installation is a consideration.

Number of metres of barrier per delivery truck

A lot of crowd control solutions are stackable on flat bed trucks and can simply be dropped for assembly at desired locations. When it comes to heavy duty concrete installations then the transportation of which requires flatbed HGV vehicles to transport the barrier system to site and back. The size of these vehicles must be a consideration of planning.

Number of additional vehicles for installation (Crane, Reach etc)

2.5 tonnes of concrete require precise and controlled installation to ensure the barrier system is structurally intact and fit for purpose. What other vehicles are need for installation of your barrier system? Consider heavy duty reach and fork vehicles to enable successful unloading and placement of the barriers. A full range of plant is available from Pal Hire to complement your barrier use.

Storage for barrier storage between installation on site?

As your project evolves and tasks become complete, you need to factor if you are taking your barriers off hire or storing them until the next phase of your works. Careful planning can ensure that you reduce lengthy redundant storage and maximise use accordingly. Speak to one of our team on how we can help

Hazards

Every decision made in relation to the deployment of barriers hired from Top Barriers should be subject to hazard and risk mitigation. There are number of online documents designed to help with the decision process of deploying, traffic, security and crowd control barriers.

Entry to working area (Breaks in the barrier)

Consideration need to be made about how you access the site. Will you have separate access or a specific route. Consider emergency access and any interruption to hard shoulder or areas where emergency services need to use to access at times of accident.

Taper on the barrier end?

Taking into account the full length of the barrier is key. Not so much with crowd control barrier but when there is traffic involved is you break a run of barriers what is the impact that break will have if a vehicle were to collide with that edge? At this stage tapered ends are required to meet safety standards.

Top Barriers has been providing hire barrier solutions across the UK since 2003. As a part of the Pal Hire Group we are experts in the provision of barrier. Spanning construction, civil engineering, event and security of locations. For more details call our team on 0330 111 0262

Draft document http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/ha/standards/ians/pdfs/ian142.pdf

Other documents https://www.tsoshop.co.uk/Building-Design-And-Infrastructure/Infrastructure/Highway-And-Traffic-Engineering/

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