When miles and miles of open highway take on wind, snow,
brutal cold, reduced visibility and many other potentially dangerous elements
that Mother Nature has to offer—and travel conditions become
hazardous—a heavy-duty delineator is a necessity. RubberTough posts
(Circle 920) from Safe-Hit Corp., a subsidiary of Quixote Transportation Safety
Inc., Chicago, is turning out to be the answer to what had been a nagging,
labor-intensive and expensive problem. The posts also are playing a key role in
helping motorists safely navigate Wyoming roadways, often under difficult
circumstances.
Hit away
It’s a constant challenge to the Wyoming DOT trying to
tame the temperament of Mother Nature. According to Steve Murray, area
maintenance supervisor for WDOT in Cheyenne, the department originally
installed the RubberTough post at the Wyoming Port of Entry to channel traffic
into a weigh-in-motion scale.
“Different steel and fiberglass delineator posts that
we used got hit every day by over-sized loads, were ruined, and had to be
replaced once they broke off,” Murray explained. “That’s when
we decided to try the RubberTough posts due to their construction, which we
understood would bend but not break when impacted.”
The RubberTough post has a patented swing hinge made of an
unbreakable rubber as the flexing point of the post. The unique hinge is
constructed of banded, recycled automobile tires that will not shatter, crack
or bend out of shape and is resistant to the most brutal weather conditions.
After a vehicle, snowplow blade, wind or other force bends the post over, it
returns upright. The post itself is made of a heavy-duty plastic tubular
extension that resists shattering, cracking or bending out of shape when
impacted.
“Due to the early success of the posts at the port of
entry station, we begin installing them along different sections of high-impact
roadway in the Cheyenne area,” Murray added. “For example, the
posts are at the I-25 port of entry between Wyoming and Colorado, on various
entrance and exit ramps along I-25 in the Cheyenne area and between Laramie and
Cheyenne on I-80.”
Murray said the posts are primarily used for delineation and
channelizing along Wyoming’s roadways and also provide a much safer
alternative to steel or fiberglass posts that can shear off and present a
spearing or puncturing hazard to motorists, their vehicles and tires.
“From a cost and labor standpoint, these posts have
contributed significantly for the simple reason we no longer are out there
replacing broken posts every month or posts that crack under very cold
conditions,” Murray said.
The RubberTough delineator posts in Wyoming are driven into
the side of the roadway permanently via a steel spike, which can be driven
securely into virtually any soil condition. WDOT used a portable gas-powered
driver to drive the posts into the ground. Once installed, the delineator post
is 48 in. from ground level for maximum visibility.
“These posts are not necessarily new, high-tech,
revolutionary highway safety technology, but they sure are an important product
that works for us,” Murray concluded.
Information for this article provided by Integrated
Marketing Solutions, Chicago.
