Concrete Barriers
HERMEQ supplies precast concrete barriers, including crash-tested vertical concrete barriers, interlocking concrete jersey barriers, a lightweight jersey barrier and concrete security blocks. Their substantial weight makes them highly effective at stopping unauthorized vehicle access, and the range is used to separate traffic from work crews and pedestrians on roads, jobsites and secure perimeters. For sites that also need a fence or a screen, the range includes barrier systems that carry a mesh fence or a plywood site wall on a crash-tested concrete base, so one line of units gives vehicle protection and an enclosure.
Types of concrete barriers
The range divides into barrier lines that connect into a continuous run, standalone blocks that close an entrance or gap, and screened systems that add a fence or wall to a crash-tested base.
Interlocking concrete jersey barriers
The sloped jersey profile is the general-purpose unit for traffic separation, site demarcation and perimeter lines on jobsites, depots and private roads. Interlocking concrete jersey barriers connect end to end, so a run holds its line, and forklift pockets let a crew reposition sections as access changes over the life of a project. They are the right choice for long runs that need a continuous concrete line.
Lightweight jersey barriers
The lightweight jersey barrier is a short unit for places a full-length section will not fit: the last gap in a run, the space beside a gate post or the base of a sign. It sits in the same line as full-length jersey barriers, and channels cast through it carry lighting, communications or power cable across the barrier line.
Crash-tested vertical concrete barriers
The vertical barrier has a straight face and a narrower footprint than the jersey profile, and it is the crash-tested barrier line in the range. Crash-tested vertical concrete barriers are chosen for road work zones and lane separation, and the same base carries both screened systems.
Concrete security blocks
A security block stands on its own. Set across an entrance, a gap in a fence line or the end of an access road, concrete security blocks stop vehicles without the cost of a continuous run, and several placed side by side close a wider opening. They are lifted out again when the opening is needed.
Concrete barriers with a mesh fence
The concrete barrier with a mesh fence sets galvanized, powder-coated mesh panels on the crash-tested vertical base. One footprint gives a vehicle barrier and a see-through fence with no separate fence ballast, and the mesh keeps sightlines and airflow open across the boundary, which suits work areas beside a live road or walkway.
Concrete barriers with a plywood site wall
The concrete barrier with a plywood site wall carries a timber-framed plywood screen on the same crash-tested base. It closes the view into the site, so it suits urban jobsites next to sidewalks and storefronts where privacy and a solid surface for project signage matter as much as vehicle protection.
Jersey barrier or vertical concrete barrier
The sloped jersey profile covers most general work, and the vertical barrier is the choice when lane width, crash-test documentation or a mounted fence decides it. A jersey barrier has a broad base and a face that slopes up from the ground, which makes it a stable, self-supporting unit for traffic separation, site demarcation and perimeter lines wherever there is room for its footprint.
The vertical barrier is narrower, so it takes less of the lane or shoulder in a work zone and leaves more width for traffic and crews. It is the unit to specify where a project specification calls for crash-tested temporary barrier, and its tested performance depends on installation by a certified contractor.
Where a roadside needs protection that stays after the job is finished, steel guardrail is installed along the road edge.
Concrete barriers for highways, jobsites and security
Road and highway work zones
The vertical barrier is the usual unit in a highway work zone beside live traffic. Traffic barricades mark the approach and taper ahead of the concrete line.
Jobsite perimeters and entrances
A perimeter has to hold its line for months, which suits interlocking jersey barriers, with security blocks across entrances that close outside working hours.
Separating pedestrians from traffic
Where a sidewalk or walkway runs beside a road or jobsite haul route, the barrier has to stop a vehicle and keep people on their side of it, and the mesh fence system does both while the route stays visible. Inside a pedestrian area, where vehicles are not the hazard, pedestrian barricades guide foot traffic.
Depots, yards and security perimeters
Access control is the job at depots, yards and private land: security blocks close unused entrances and gaps, and interlocking barriers line a boundary. Entry points that must open for authorized vehicles are served by parking and security barriers.
Events and emergency access routes
Event perimeters and emergency access routes change often, so the lightweight jersey barrier and security blocks suit them. Both close a route to vehicles, and a forklift lifts them clear when an emergency vehicle needs the lane.
Lifting, run length and finish for concrete barriers
Handling and lifting on site
Every unit in the range is set by machine, so confirm before delivery that the site has the right equipment and room to use it. Jersey barriers, lightweight barriers and security blocks have forklift pockets, and units with cast lifting loops are set by crane with a lifting clutch, which is an option on the interlocking jersey barrier. Check the machine's rated capacity against the unit weight and plan the setting order so the forklift never works over units already placed. Where no machine can reach the setting position, water-filled road barriers are placed by hand.
Planning the length of a run
Units in the range run from 4 ft to 10 ft long, so a run is planned in modules. Measure the line, divide it by the unit length and fill the remainder or turn around obstacles with lightweight barriers. Mark gates, emergency openings and sightlines at junctions on the layout before ordering.
Finish and visibility
Plain gray precast concrete is the standard finish, and painted finishes are available on the jersey and vertical barriers. Alternating colors along a run make the line easier for drivers to read, and reflective markers or warning lights on top of the units help at night.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The most common name is jersey barrier, after the sloped profile, and the trade also calls them jersey walls, K-rail, concrete barricades, barrier blocks and concrete traffic or highway barriers. Barriers with a straight face are called vertical concrete barriers. The short blocks at the head of a parking space are a different product, usually called wheel stops or parking curbs.
Across the HERMEQ range, units weigh from 1,554 lb for the lightweight jersey barrier to 5,512 lb for the full-length vertical barriers and the bases of the screened systems. Each product page lists the exact weight of that unit.
The name comes from New Jersey, where the state highway department developed the sloped concrete median profile in the mid-twentieth century. Other states adopted the design and the name stayed with it. In California the same barrier is widely known as K-rail.
They keep unauthorized vehicles out of land, jobsites, yards and event areas. Their weight holds them in place without bolting or anchoring into the ground, so they can stand for a few weeks or for years and be moved when the layout changes.
The alternative depends on what the barrier must do. Water-filled plastic barriers delineate and redirect traffic and are light enough to move by hand when empty, steel guardrail is bolted to posts along a road edge for long-term protection, and plastic traffic and pedestrian barricades mark and guide without holding back a vehicle. Concrete is used where the line must stop vehicles and stay put without fixings.