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Last updated: 6/19/2025

Highway Barriers for Road Construction and Work Zone Safety


Positive Protection highway barriers separate workers from motorized traffic and safeguard workers from longitudinal and lateral work zone intrusions.

Protecting People from Preventable Injury and Death

Highway barriers or traffic barriers are a fundamental component of modern work zone design and traffic control. The USDOT Safe System Approach and FHWA Safe System Roadway Design Hierarchy (based on the "Hierarchy of Controls" workplace safety protocol) emphasize that death/serious injury is unacceptable and that safety is proactive (e.g. designing in and using Positive Protection barriers proactively to seperate workers from traffic).

Road construction and maintenance projects often have serious hazards to manage (with high-speed traffic moving within feet of employees, roadside hazards, and/or little or no means for employees to escape from errant vehicles). In a 2025 national survey, 60% of highway contractors reported crashes into their work zones. [6] A December 2024 IIHS study found that modern taller SUVs and pickups put pedestrians at very high risk (i.e. a highway worker has a 85% likelihood of severe injury when struck at 33 mph and an 85% likelihood of dying when struck at 45 mph by a median U.S. pickup). [18]

Fortunately, Positive Protection barriers can be used to directly control these hazards to highway workers, who are among the most "Vulnerable Road Users". Federal law (23 CFR 630.1108(a)) and ANSI standards (A10.47-2021 §4.4) specify types of projects (e.g. tunnels, bridges, drop-offs, etc.) which require require Positive Protection & barrier separation in work zones.

Positive Protection are devices placed "between workers and motorized traffic" which function to "contain and/or redirect vehicles" and which meet applicable crashworthiness criteria (see 23 U.S.C. § 112(g) and 23 C.F.R. § 630.1104).

MASH certified traffic barriers placed between workers and motorized traffic (i.e. Positive Protection) offer state-of-the-art safety for workers and motorists by physically preventing (i.e. containing and/or redirecting) high-speed motorized vehicles from colliding with workers and other dangerous obstacles inside a work zone. A physical barrier (i.e. Positive Protection) provides one of the best possible protection solutions for workers exposed to the flow of traffic and is a common-sense and cost-effective way to prevent death and injuries of workers on roads and highways. In a national survey, 89% of highway contractors think Positive Protection barriers would help improve safety and prevent these horrific crashes. [4]

Historically, Temporary Concrete Barrier (e.g. K-rail or Jersey Barrier) was one of the only types of Positive Protection barrier available. With a weight of more than 4,000 lbs, Temporary Concrete Barrier requires heavy equipment to install, rearrange, and remove. As a result, Temporary Concrete Barrier often must be left-in-place for the duration of a project, limiting roadway capacity and flexibility to respond to rush hour traffic congestion.

Modern types of Positive Protection barrier such as Mobile Barriers, Movable Barriers, and Temporary Steel Barriers have made it practical and cost-effective for engineers and contractors to deploy Positive Protection on a wide range of projects (including short-term and short-duration projects). Mobile Barriers, Movable Barriers, and Temporary Steel Barriers offer more flexibility in work zone design and enable engineers and contractors to prevent work zone intrusions while also accelerating highway construction/maintenance projects and increasing roadway capacity to match daily traffic patterns.




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