27/11/2025
an informative diagram detailing the Main Types of Guardrails and Barriers used in road safety.
Here is a detailed description and analysis of the information presented in the photo:
🚧 MAIN TYPES OF GUARDRAILS AND BARRIERS
The image illustrates two primary types of roadside safety barriers: Metal Guardrails and New Jersey Barriers.
1. METAL GUARDRAILS
• Material: Made of Galvanized Steel.
• Mechanism (Deformable):
• They work by absorbing the impact of vehicles through their deformation. This means the guardrail bends and crumples to slow the vehicle down over a longer period, reducing the force felt by the occupants.
• They are designed to prevent vehicles from leaving or invading other lanes.
• Visual Features: Typically seen as a wavy or W-shaped beam mounted on posts alongside the road or in the median.
2. NEW JERSEY BARRIERS
• Material: Made of Reinforced Concrete.
• Mechanism (Rigid):
• They are a rigid, non-deformable structure. Unlike metal guardrails, they do not rely on bending or absorbing the impact.
• They function by reorienting the vehicle to the correct trajectory with the least damage to passengers. Their unique shape (a sloping lower half and a steeper upper half) is specifically designed to lift the impacting vehicle’s tires, allowing the body of the vehicle to slide up the barrier face and gently be redirected parallel to the flow of traffic, minimizing severe damage or rollover.
• Visual Features: A modular, heavy concrete wall with a specific cross-section (the Jersey shape).
🛣️ SHARED PURPOSE (BOTH TYPES)
The diagram concludes by stating the common uses for both the metal guardrails and the concrete barriers:
They are both used to protect vehicles from:
• Falls on high embankments.
• Impact against fixed obstacles.
• Other vehicles in oncoming traffic (when used as a median barrier).
In summary, the diagram contrasts the deformable, energy-absorbing action of the Metal Guardrail with the rigid, redirection action of the New Jersey Barrier, while emphasizing their shared goal of improving road safety.
