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represent high quality and innovative products but they are also

highly functional, like the road barriers protecting motorcyclists. This

means that the level of passive safety is continuously improving,

which is a crucial point for our testing institute,” says Jiří Studnička,

director of the Technical and Engineering Services Office of the

Constructions Technical and Testing Institute in Prague, which is

the only testing body in the Czech Republic providing testing for all

safety systems on Czech roads.

Road barriers help to reduce fatalities and serious accidents

The main safety element on roads is drivers behaving decently.

However, this is the least reliable factor. Therefore, it is necessary

to provide for passive safety on roads. And this, to a great extent,

is ensured by road barriers. Road barriers help to reduce fatalities

and serious accidents because they are installed on risky sections of

roads with rigid obstacles like trees or rocks near the roads.

“Over the last 15 years, road barriers installed on risky sections

of roads have helped to reduce fatalities by 38  and serious

%

accidents by 49%,” confirms Jiří Zlý, head of the Road Police

Department of the Moravian-Silesian Region Directorate of the

Police of the Czech Republic.

New models of safety barriers produced by ArcelorMittal Ostrava

Magnelis® = self-healing coating

Innovations include the Magnelis® coating, a new form of

anti-corrosion protection of steel. The Magnelis® coating will

provide protection to steel road barriers for twice as long as

regular hot dip galvanizing, i.e. for 40 years. This is possible thanks

to the unique chemical composition of the coating, which contains

aluminium and magnesium in addition to zinc. An interesting

feature of Magnelis® is its self-healing capability. It protects

the exposed areas that are liable to corrosion: cuts, welds,

and scratches. Before steel starts corroding, a thin

layer of protection containing magnesium will

develop over the damaged area to shield it from

climatic impacts.

under the road barriers, which often causes serious injuries. At the

same time, during the accident it reduces the effects of the collision of the motorcyclist with the road barrier as it partly absorbs

the kinetic energy. Motorcyclist-friendly road barriers are installed

alongside dangerous stretches of roads, such as long bends. They

are already found on dozens of kilometers of roads in the Czech

Republic.

The SMART road barriers have brought the first smart solutions

Between 2008 and 2012, ArcelorMittal Ostrava, in cooperation

with the University of Zaragoza participated in the development

of a SMART road barriers which are equipped with three types of

built-in sensors. The first sensor type is able to evaluate the climatic

conditions at the given location. The second type is able to notify

possible problems with traffic on the road section and the third

sensor type can immediately send a signal to rescue system agencies in case of a collision with the road barrier.

The SMARTer road barrier as a successor of SMART road barriers

Between 2015 and 2016, ArcelorMittal Ostrava, in cooperation

with the University of Zaragoza and other partners, worked on

the preparation of an even smarter road barrier using the most

recent technologies. The main task for the new type of road barrier was to ensure not only primary but also secondary and tertiary safety, including the activation of a drone during the accident

for scanning and sending up-to-date data on the current situation

to rescue teams. Additionally it facilitates two-way communication, the possibility of data collection, energy self-sufficiency (solar

panels) and modularity – the possibility of connecting to existing

restraint systems.

Micro-alloyed steel road barriers offer

lower weight and improved safety

parameters

In 2012, the company developed

a new series of restraint systems.

They are made of micro-alloyed

steel, which has a higher strength

than low-carbon steel. This allowed

a reduction in thickness from 4 to

2.8mm, representing more than

a 25% reduction in weight. This

makes the installation of road

barriers on the roads easier. Even

with less material, crash testing has

confirmed better safety parameters.

Motorcyclist-friendly road barriers reduce the risk of fatal accidents

The company has developed road barriers with a bottom strip to improve the

protection of motorcyclists. The bottom

strip prevents the motorcyclist from passing

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