An innovative barrier solution

A new N2 containment level road safety barrier is already helping an Italian public administration to increase bridge safety in an efficient and unobtrusive way

Words | Filippo Leone and Jacopo Moretti, Margaritelli Ferroviaria, Italy

Since it was founded in 1996, Margaritelli Ferroviaria has been responsible for various innovations in the road safety barrier market, including models made from laminated wood and steel. It was the first company to successfully test an H2 containment class barrier for bridges, which was certified in 2004. Before then, the most durable wooden barrier on the market was an H1 containment level product.

The company’s latest innovation is the N2BP-01 barrier for bridges, which is tested for the N2 containment level and CE-certified in accordance with EN 1317 and regulation (EU) No 305/2011. The new barrier has been designed for installation on reinforced concrete curbs, with an excavation on the back, making it safe for use on bridges and with public infrastructures.

Such a device is currently not listed in the catalog of any other European safety barrier manufacturer.

The idea meets the specific needs of Italian public administrations, which are responsible for ensuring safety on roads characterized by low traffic loads and a negligible number of heavy vehicles. In these cases, an H2 containment level barrier can be considered oversized, and therefore involves extra costs for the public administration. Such a barrier also hinders visibility and fails to preserve the landscape, as required.

Special conditions

The N2BP-01 safety barrier is also a valid alternative where there are special conditions for implementation. For example: a public infrastructure, where a roadside barrier has been installed by creating holes for metallic posts – which would be ineffective if a vehicle impacted it. In such situations, the solution is usually to install the safety barrier on a continuous foundation that is made of concrete.

Similar cases include where there is poor soil or sandy ground, roads with outer slopes too close to the lateral edges, roads with footways that are subject to erosion and stabilized by reinforced concrete structures, and embankments that have important cable ducts installed less than 1m (3.3ft) below the drivable surface.

The N2BP-01 barrier provides a certified CE solution to all these complicated conditions, ensuring a containment level N2, with an ASI index less than one, 0and a W4 working width. The lightweight design does not interfere with road users’ visibility and its visually unobtrusive design is especially suited to sites with touristic and aesthetic

merit. The 3m (9.8ft) post spacing makes installation fast and easy.

First installation

The first Italian public administration to install the N2BP-01 barrier was the Municipality of Todi. It needed to widen and make safe a bridge in Via Maiola Bassa, between Todi and the village of San Damiano. The road’s speed limit is 70km/h (43.5mph).

Thanks to the exception that can be made in terms of the minimal containment level around civil engineering infrastructure (level H2 in Italy), the technicians were able to find a less costly, less impactful and equally efficient solution.

The bridge was upgraded, enlarged and made safe by installing a N2BP-01 barrier connected to a N2BL-01 barrier. Both products are CE-certified, and have been demonstrated to work equally well in crush tests and in real working conditions. n

Margaritelli Ferroviaria creates safety barriers that are made of laminated wood. These barriers offer continuity and resistance reliability