Operating and Maintaining Median High Tension Cable Barrier on Highway 2 in Alberta

In 2010, Alberta Transportation completed construction of 133 km of High Tension Cable Barrier (HTCB) in the median of Highway 2 from North of Airdrie to Red Deer and near Leduc. The design of this HTCB was complex due to the variety of median conditions when considering variables such as median width, sideslopes, and existing hardware in the median. Recent inquiries with HTCB suppliers indicate that this project remains the largest single HTCB installation in North America to date. This paper will present a comprehensive discussion of the various maintenance and operational issues and considerations for this HTCB installation. An issue which has resulted in the need for repairs of the HTCB is the cutting of the cable by first responders to free vehicles caught in the HTCB. Cutting of the cable can be hazardous due to the high tension in the system. To reduce the frequency of this occurrence and to minimize risk to first responders (firemen, police, and tow-truck operators), EBA provided training sessions in Leduc, Red Deer and Calgary. The content of, participation in and results of this training program will be discussed. Following the first year of operations a warranty inspection was completed and the observations and repair requirements are presented. Lessons learned from the review of these topics will be of use to road agencies that are proceeding with the use of this flexible barrier system that has proven to be effective in reducing the severity of cross median collisions in Alberta and elsewhere. For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD record number 201310RT334E.

• Record URL:
  http://www.tac-atc.ca/english/annualconference/tac2013/session11/churchill.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)

  401-1111 Prince of Wales Drive
  Ottawa, Ontario  Canada 
• Authors:
  • Churchill, A
  • HASSAN, M
  • NGO, B
  • MORISON, C
  • Fischer, L
  • Wilkie, K
• Conference:
  • 2013 CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION OF THE TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION OF CANADA - TRANSPORTATION: BETTER - FASTER - SAFER
• Publication Date: 2013

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 19 p.
• Monograph Title: 2013 Conference and Exhibition of the Transportation Association of Canada - Transportation: Better - Faster - Safer

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cables; Case studies; Conferences; Education; Guardrails; Maintenance; Medians; Personnel; Repairing; Vehicle performance
• Uncontrolled Terms: In service behavior
• Geographic Terms: Canada
• ITRD Terms: 4530: Cable; 8018: Canada; 8531: Case study; 2914: Central reserve; 8525: Conference; 2284: Education; 9121: In service behaviour; 3847: Maintenance; 102: Personnel; 3635: Repair; 1686: Safety fence
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01518031
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)
• Files: ITRD, TAC
• Created Date: Mar 11 2014 10:59AM