Compact Profile Highway Barrier

This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 63/648,333 filed on May 16, 2025, and the complete contents thereof are herein incorporated by reference.

The invention is generally directed to highway barriers which are used to protect work sites, divide roadways, prevent traffic from straying off course of a bridge or roadway, as protection for buildings, and in other applications, where the highway barriers are used on highways, roads, residential streets, on bridges, in front of buildings, and in other desired venues.

Concrete highway barriers have been used for many years for blocking off areas for traffic, delineating driving lines, protecting drivers from straying off of roadways and/or bridges, for controlling the flow of traffic, and in other applications.

As road systems continue to grow, roadway work zones along primary, secondary, and urban highway systems have become commonplace. Work zones are often delineated by temporary longitudinal safety shape barriers, sometimes referred to as New Jersey, F, and constant slope barriers. The thirty two inch height of these typical longitudinal barriers reduces cross-traffic visibility, particularly at night. For example, the driver of a cross-traffic vehicle must typically pull into a mainstream roadway before being able to see oncoming vehicles.

One well proven concrete highway barrier design is referred to as JJ HOOKS®, which is sold and licensed by the Easi-Set Industries of Midland, VA. These highway barriers are generally described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,149,224, 7,607,645, and 9,422,681, each of which is herein incorporated by reference. As discussed in these patents, a highway protection system is provided by having a several sections of concrete highway barrier, connected together by J hooks which project out of the ends of each barrier and connect with a J hook that projects out of the end of an adjacent concrete highway barrier.

An aspect of the invention pertains to the design and deployment of a low profile barrier short enough to provide an unhindered line of sight between a cross-traffic driver's vision and oncoming traffic. The design provides limited deflection and has no loose hardware, and meets the latest Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual of Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) full crash testing guidelines. Thus, the invention provides a barrier which significantly improves traffic safety as well as worker and pedestrian safety.

A further aspect of the invention pertains to a compact, low profile, low speed crash barrier system made of a plurality of rigid precast concrete sections connected end to end in interlocking relationship with one another. The end of each section has a specifically designed confinement vertical channel groove in which the a connector plate is embedded, thus limiting the deflection (e.g., lateral movement) of engaged barriers.

shows a roadway safety system comprised of a plurality of individual compact profile highway barriers,,, andconnected together in an interlocking relationship. Each of the barriers,,, andare preferably precast concrete sections composed of steel reinforced concrete. More preferably, the concrete strength is a minimum of 3,500 pounds per square inch (PSI), and the reinforcement is steel in the form of one or more of rebar and steel wire mesh. A safety system includes at least two barriers positioned and connected end to end; however, safety systems can include hundreds of barriers connected together in miles long implementations. While the system of the present invention may accommodate some slight curves, it has particular utility in straight sections.

shows one end of a compact profile highway barrieraccording to an embodiment of the invention. The barrierhas a top side, a bottom side, a right side, and a left side. Cross-sectionally, the compact profile highway barrierresembles an inverted trapezoid, where all sides are relatively flat, and the width of the top sideis 1-20% wider than the width of the bottom side. In some embodiments the width of the bottom sidefrom the right sideto the left sideis preferably approximately 26 inches (e.g., +1 inch). A preferred embodiment has width of the top sidebetween the right sideand left sidebeing approximately 28 inches (e.g., +1 inch). Typical highway barriers are approximately 32 inches tall. By contrast, the height between the top sideand the bottom sideof the compact profile highway barrier is most preferably approximately 20 inches (e.g., +1 inch). The lower height allows vehicle drivers to more easily see over the compact profile highway barrier for other vehicles while turning, for pedestrians, for workers at a job site, etc. The inverted trapezoid design helps drive the vehicle wheels downward during crashes (particularly low speed crashes) and keep the vehicle away from protected areas (e.g., road edges, oncoming traffic lanes, job sites, etc.). Crash force absorbing capabilities of the compact profile highway barrierare also enhanced by the overall width of the barrier. The flat bottom sideof the barrierenables it to be laid directly on a roadway without additional hardware being required.

A confinement vertical channel grooveis centrally located in each end of the compact profile highway barrier. The confinement vertical channel grooveextends from the top sideto the bottom sideof the barrier.

As illustrated in, The confinement vertical channel grooveis preferably a squared off U shape which has a first sideand a second sidespaced apart and a base area. A J-J hook mode formed steel connection couplingis positioned in the central region of the confinement vertical channel groove.

With reference to, and, it can be seen that the face side of the end of the compact profile highway barrierhas a flat top regionand an inward tapered region. A pair of energy dissipation and deflector platesandare positioned in the flat top region. As shown in, the deflector platesorgenerally comprise a front platewith a back section welded or otherwise connected to rebaror other suitable structural element. As shown in, the rebarelement extends into the concrete of the compact profile highway barrier. Referring back to, a chamfercan extend from the top 28 to the flat top region, and chamfersandcan extend respectively from sideand sideto the front of the compact profile highway barrier.

shows the hook end of the connection couplingpreferably extends only part of the way from the top of the inward tapered region(shown best in) towards the bottomof the compact profile highway barrier. Furthermore, the connection couplingis positioned in the confinement vertical channel grooveat a point below the flat top region.

is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of a J-J hook mode formed steel connection coupling. The J-J hook mode formed steel connection coupling has a hook portionwhich is preferably U shaped, and which extends out of the confinement vertical channel groove, a base portionwhich extends into and is embedded in concrete of the concrete body at a base of the of the confinement vertical channel groove, and a connector angle memberpositioned between the hook portionand the base portion. Preferably, the J-J hook mode formed steel connection couplingis installed in the confinement vertical channel groovewith the base portionextending into the concrete of the compact profile highway barrier, and with the connector angle memberhaving its base either adjacent to or embedded in the baseof the confinement vertical channel groove. In addition, preferably the connector angle memberextends from an inside surface of the J-J hook mode formed steel connection coupling and extends across the baseof the confinement vertical channel groove, best shown in, such that the outside surface of the J-J hook mode formed steel connection coupling rests against or is in close proximity (e.g., less than half an inch, and more preferably less than a quarter of an inch) with the first sideof the confinement vertical channel groove, and the outer edge of the connector angle memberis in contact with or is in close proximity (e.g., less than half an inch, and more preferably less than a quarter of an inch) the second sideof the confinement vertical channel groove.

The distance from the top edge to the bottom edge of the J-J hook mode formed steel connection coupling is preferably approximately 12 inches (e.g., +1 inch), and the height of the inward taper regionof the face of the compact high barrier, shown best inis approximately 16 inches.also shows in the preferred embodiment that the connector angle memberis skewed from the top edge of the J-J hook mode formed steel connection couplingto the bottom edge of the hook connector. Preferably the skew angle is between 0 and 10 degrees, and most preferably approximately 2 degrees (e.g., +1 degree). In a preferred embodiment, the skew angle of the connector angle memberapproximates the angle of the inward taper regionon the face end of the barrier.

The J-J hook mode formed steel connection coupling is preferably made of a low carbon, mild structural steel alloy. However, other metals or composite materials of equal or greater strength may be used. Ultimately, the J-J hook mode formed steel connection coupling must be of sufficient strength to help withstand a crash into the barrier, and preferably only allow minimal damage to the vehicle and to the barrier.

shows two barriersandinterlocked by a J hook mode formed steel connection coupling(one hook mates with another hook on opposing barriersand. The hooksare preferably embedded in the confinement vertical channel groove, as shown in, such that when barrieris joined to barrier, there is very limited space between the end of barrierand the end of barrier(e.g., an inch or less).

shows the two barriersandinterlocked by the hook mode formed steel connection coupling, as discussed in conjunction with, but from a side view perspective. As the front faces are flat at the top and then tapered downward as shown in, in conjunction with regionfor the tapered bottom and regionfor the flat top, a V-shaped spaceis created at the bottom of the interlocked barriersand. This allows for more easily connecting the J-hooks and placing the barriersandend to end. In addition, it allows for a small amount of horizontal and vertical adjustment between the two barriersand. Preferably, the angle of the V-shape is 5 degrees or less.

An exemplary use of an interlocking highway barrier system according to the present invention. Specifically, one barrier system of a plurality of barrier sections can line a side of a road. Because the height of the barrier system is relatively lower, the driver of a car can readily see the cross traffic situation. Similarly, on the same road, a work site could employ another barrier system to protect workers beside the road.