CHICAGO, October 13, 2009 – Energy Absorption Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quixote Corporation, the world’s leading manufacturer of transportation safety products and advanced technologies, announced its most recent deployment of Moveable Vulcan® Barrier for a high-profile highway project commissioned by the Delaware Department of Transportation. The deployment is largely due to Moveable Vulcan Barrier’s impressive performance on a previous project in which Delaware officials witnessed first-hand the many advantages to Quixote’s innovative steel barrier.
Interstate-95, also designated the Delaware Turnpike, is Delaware’s only interstate highway, a distinction shared by the states of Maine and Rhode Island. When maintenance to I-95 called for the replacement of a large median wall, the significance of the highway for both commercial and commuter traffic presented a unique set of challenges. In a situation where concrete barrier might typically be used, the necessity of daily lane changes make the heavy, labor intensive substrate prohibitive. As a result of the situational challenges and its previous performance, Moveable Vulcan Barrier was chosen for the project.
Don Pyde, Marketing Manager for Energy Absorption Systems, commented on the additional deployment, “We’re pleased the Delaware Department of Transportation has discovered a new asset in Moveable Vulcan Barrier and look forward to seeing the level of performance they’ll be able to achieve with Vulcan’s flexibility and speed of deployment. This further supports what we’ve repeatedly seen – once contractors experience the difference between Vulcan Barrier and concrete, Vulcan Barrier becomes the barrier of choice for work zones.”
The Vulcan Barrier is a portable steel longitudinal barrier that meets NCHRP 350 TL-3 & TL-4 and EN 1317 H2 & N2 test requirements as a longitudinal redirecting barrier. Available in effective lengths of four meters and 12 meters, Vulcan Barrier uses a vertical steel pivot pin to interlink each section allowing the system to follow curves of up to six degrees per four-meter segment. Using the innovative Vulcan Transfer Attachment (VTA) and a small skid steer or front-end loader, a contractor can move the Moveable Vulcan Barrier and also open or close a one mile long, one lane wide work zone in 20 minutes. The lightweight construction and flexibility of the Vulcan Barrier has become the natural solution for many contractors and engineers over traditional heavy concrete barriers.
Mike Peco, Customer Service Manager for Enterprise Flasher, explained the decision to select Vulcan Barrier, “I-95 is a highly-traveled and extremely important thoroughfare in Delaware. In the past, we would have used concrete, but after seeing what Moveable Vulcan Barrier can do, officials realized it was exactly what the project required and immediately approved it. Because of how quickly the Vulcan Barrier allows us to open and close lanes we are able to reconfigure daily – closing during non-peak hours then giving the lane back to travelers when traffic volume requires. It works perfectly.”
About Quixote Corporation
Quixote Corporation (www.quixotecorp.com) through its wholly owned subsidiaries Quixote Transportation Safety, Inc. and Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of energy-absorbing highway crash cushions and truck mounted attenuators, electronic wireless measuring and sensing devices, road weather information systems, computerized highway advisory radio transmitting systems, flexible post delineators and other transportation safety products and services.
