Roadway safety barrier

Abstract

Road safety barrier comprising: concrete bottom parts (1); concrete top parts (2) coupled on the bottom parts (1), and attaching means (3, 31) of the successive top parts (2) at their opposite ends. The bottom parts (1) have an upper surface provided with a longitudinal channel (11) for coupling in the longitudinal direction and with the possibility of limited vertical displacement of a longitudinal extension (21) protruding from a lower surface of the top parts (2); the channel (11) and the extension (21) have similar cross-sections and dimensions calculated so that the top part performs a lateral rotation of a determined amplitude, in the event of a vehicle impact, and absorbs a significant part of its kinetic energy.

Claims

1. A road safety barrier comprising a series of prefabricated concrete parts, of constant cross-section, facing each other at their longitudinal ends, which include: bottom parts (1), forming a barrier base, and top parts (2), forming a barrier body, supported and coupled on the bottom parts (1); characterised in that the bottom parts (1) have an upper surface provided with a longitudinal channel (11) for coupling in the longitudinal direction and with the possibility of limited vertical displacement of a longitudinal extension (21) protruding from a lower surface of the top parts (2); said longitudinal channel (11) of the bottom part (1) and said longitudinal extension (21) of the top part (2) having similar cross-sections, and with calculated dimensional differences so that, in the event of an impact of a vehicle, the top part maintains its integrity and performs, with respect to the vertical median plane (p) of the bottom part (1), a lateral rotation of an amplitude determined and limited by the coupling means of the top and bottom parts, the coupling means comprising the longitudinal channel (11) of the bottom part (1) and the longitudinal extension (21) of the top part (2); the longitudinal channel (11) and the longitudinal extension (21) each comprise at least: an upper segment (a) of decreasing overall width towards a lower area, and a lower segment (b) of a width between the greater width and the lesser width of the upper segment (a).

2. The barrier, according to claim 1, characterised in that the successive top parts (2) are connected by attaching means (3, 31) that cooperate with the coupling of the extension (21) and the channel (11) in limiting the lateral rotation of the top parts (2), in the event of an impact of a vehicle against the barrier.

3. The barrier, according to claim 1, characterised in that the longitudinal channel (11) of the bottom part (1) and the longitudinal extension (21) of the top part (2) have rounded longitudinal edges.

4. The barrier, according to claim 1, characterised in that the bottom parts (1) are anchored to the ground, with no possibility of displacement.

5. The barrier, according to, claim 1, characterised in that the bottom parts (1) and the top parts (2) have the same length and are vertically aligned in pairs; or mutually displaced in a longitudinal direction, in a staggered way.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTENTS OF HE DRAWINGS

(1) In order to complement the description that is being carried out and with the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the characteristics of the invention, the present description is accompanied by a set of drawings wherein, by way of a non-limiting example, the following has been represented:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of the road safety barrier, according to the invention.

(3) FIG. 2 shows an elevational view of a barrier segment in which the top parts have been partially sectioned to allow visualisation of the attaching means thereof which, in this exemplary embodiment, comprise threaded rods attached at their ends by threaded sleeves.

(4) FIG. 3 shows an exploded, profile view of a bottom part and a top part of the barrier.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a profile view of the barrier shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and in which a top part coupled to a bottom part of the barrier can be seen.

(6) FIGS. 5 and 6 show two profile views in which the limited rotation of the top parts towards one or the other side with respect to the vertical median plane of the bottom parts in the event of an impact can be seen.

(7) FIG. 7 shows a lateral-top perspective detail of the ends of two consecutive top parts, and in which the fastening thereof by the attaching means can be seen when one of them rotates laterally, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, due to a lateral impact.

(8) FIGS. 8 and 9 show elevational views of a barrier according to the invention, wherein the top parts are respectively aligned and misaligned in a longitudinal direction with respect to the bottom parts of the barrier.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

(9) As can be seen in FIG. 1, the road safety barrier of the invention comprises bottom parts (1) and top parts (2) of concrete, prefabricated and of constant cross-section in the longitudinal direction.

(10) As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, both the bottom parts (1) and the top parts (2) are facing each other at their longitudinal ends forming respective alignments.

(11) The successive top parts (2) are connected by attaching means, consisting of threaded rods (3), of the dywidag type, which pass through the interior of said top parts (2) and which are fixed at their ends by threaded sleeves (31). These attaching means cooperate with the coupling of the extension (21) and the channel (11) in limiting the lateral rotation of the top parts (2) in the event of an impact of a vehicle against the barrier.

(12) Each of the bottom parts (1) has, on its upper surface, a longitudinal channel (11) for coupling in the longitudinal direction, like a slide, a longitudinal extension (21) protruding from the lower surface of the top parts (2).

(13) The channel (11) and the extension (21) have similar cross-sections with dimensional differences that facilitate their coupling in the longitudinal direction and limit their relative displacement in the vertical direction.

(14) In FIG. 3 it can be seen that both the channel (11) of the bottom part and the extension (21) of the top part have an upper segment, referred to as (a) in the extension (21), of decreasing overall width towards the lower area; and a lower segment (b) of a width between the greater and lesser width of the upper segment (a).

(15) Once the extension (21) is coupled longitudinally in the channel (11), the top part (2) is arranged vertically in alignment with the longitudinal median plane (p) of the bottom part (3), as shown in FIG. 4.

(16) Due to the shape and dimensional difference between the channel 11) of the bottom parts (1) and the longitudinal extension (21) of the top parts (2), when the barrier receives a lateral impact from a vehicle, the top part (2) makes a rotation to either side with respect to the vertical median plane (p) of the lower part (1), as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, which contributes to improving the absorption of kinetic energy from the impact and reducing the harmful effects to those involved in the accident.

(17) The lateral rotation of the top parts (2) with respect to the bottom parts (1) is limited by the geometry of the channel (11) of the bottom parts and by the longitudinal extension (21) of the top parts, the possibility of rotation being also limited by the action of the attaching means, in this case the threaded rod (3), as shown in FIG. 7.

(18) Calculations and tests carried out during the development of this road safety barrier of the present invention have shown that, with the characteristics indicated, this barrier absorbs up to 25% of the total kinetic energy of the impact of a vehicle, which far exceeds the energy absorption capacity of the concrete barriers existing on the market.

(19) In the embodiment shown, and as can be seen for example in FIG. 1, the bottom parts present the typical cross-section in a generally trapezoidal shape, with side ramps (12) tending to return the vehicle to the road in the event of a low speed impact.

(20) Finally, and as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, it has been provided that the bottom parts (1) and the top parts (2) have the same length, in this exemplary embodiment of about 6 metres, and that, in the assembling position, the top parts (2) and the bottom parts (1) can be aligned vertically in pairs, i.e., with their longitudinal ends vertically aligned, as shown in FIG. 8; or displaced in the longitudinal direction, in a staggered way, as shown in FIG. 9.