The Road Home Construction Design DilemmaRoad construction is done to increase the quality of the roadways, making them more comfortable and safer to use. During road construction, digging or blasting removes earth rocks that are destroyed and, in order to dig the earth rocks, heavy machinery and equipment is used which can be extremely dangerous to both drivers passing through as well as the road crews conducting the construction. Due to this, drivers must be extra cautious when passing through these areas because of the potential for machinery to damage vehicles or harm workers and drivers. Also, during road construction, heavy traffic, vehicle accidents and head-on collisions have always been a major problem. These types of accidents are much more likely to occur in construction zones due to the confusion of where to drive and how to navigate around the affected area. The government and construction companies have taken quite a bit of heat for these problems as well. Due to this, the government sought possible solutions to resolve this problem. They produced designs and created concrete barriers that act as guard rails to improve the security of the drivers – one of which was the Jersey Barrier.
The SolutionA Jersey barrier, also sometimes referred to as a Jersey wall, is a solidified fence that worked as a separator wall for traffic. By using them in this manner many of the head on collisions as well as minor accidents like fender benders were eliminated. Standing 3 ft tall and made solidly of concrete, these barriers make for much safer New Small House Plans 2018 zones where vehicles can pass through and pedestrians can safely find walking routes without colliding. These Jersey barriers are colloquially known in different names in the U.S, such as K-rail from Western states. This term came from the California Department of Transportation, intending to specify this protective equipment as a temporary barrier. In 1997, a report published by the Transportation Research board discovered this information, although they were not sure when and where it was started. It was developed as the First Generation to reduce the number of trucks penetrating the barrier walls. This study also analyzes the necessities of money for the maintenance of these median barriers in case of accidents. As time passed, it has been noticeably useful and effective during road construction – the number of head on collisions have been reduced and the construction workers, as well as the drivers, can now work at ease. Therefore, it can be said that the Jersey Barrier has proven itself in many ways – the least of which being saving lives in construction zones.