View Q&A

I was doing some digging around in our library and found MwRSF's report on "Development of a Temporary Barrier System for Off Road applications".

Some questions:

1. Will the ski design attach to the current MwRSF barrier design?
2. What modifications are necessary for the barrier to accept the ski design?
3. What slopes would the ski design be acceptable to be installed on?
4. What is the working width of the barrier with the skis on it?

The ski-type backup system was developed for the Iowa F-shape temporary concrete barrier. The Iowa TCB was developed for the Pooled fund program in the mid-1900s. Later, the vertical holes in the toes were modified for the KS and FL versions of this barrier as well as the reinforcement surrounding the vertical holes. Horizontal lifting holes may also have been changed or eliminated. In addition, the TCB had undergone some standardization using comments from the Midwest states.

With regards to the ski attachment, this system has a strong potential for being used with the standardized TCB, now referred to as the KS/FL F-shape TCB. To be sure, we will need to evaluate the changes made to the barrier over the last decade. I will ask Karla, Bob, or Scott to review these changes for you next week and report back to you.

The TCB ski system was tested and evaluated on level terrain. Since the system is designed to resist barrier rotation, it may be reasonable to assume that it would perform in an acceptable manner when placed on roadside slopes on 1:12, or possibly 1:10. However, it would be recommended that the barrier be propped up to be perpendicular to level terrain by using the screw-jack system that is part of the ski hardware.

Since working width was likely not reported when this research was conducted, we would need to evaluate the overhead film data to determine the working width. Recall that working width is measured from the front face the barrier (toe) to the farther part of the barrier or vehicle during redirection. The back of the ski hardware would likely be this point. I will have our staff also determine this value.