With many 100’s to 1000’s of kilometres of wire rope barriers installed on regional road networks, maintaining the effectiveness of safety barriers is proving challenging for road authorities. Operationally these barriers are demanding more management time and maintenance effort.
Flexible barriers need ongoing repairs and maintenance, such as checking the tension of wire rope barriers to ensure that they perform as expected. VicRoads estimates that unrepaired barriers can be up to 34 per cent less effective at reducing serious injuries and fatalities.
Gaining greater insight into the status of wire rope barriers is crucial to improving maintenance management, but traditional manual and siloed processes are unable to provide the detail necessary to enable this on a regional network level.
Real-time monitoring and data aggregation platforms that provide region or state-wide reporting on conditions on transport infrastructure are increasingly being viewed as a requirement to meet oversight requirements under tightening maintenance standards and increased stakeholder focus.
Critical to the effective maintenance and management of wire rope barriers is to be maintained in good repair with cables kept to a presribed tension. Access to realtime information to provide insights such as:
- Provide an auditable means of documenting repair and maintenance response times after vehicle impacts.
- Automate tension checking in each wire rope, to ensure compliance with manufacturer guidelines and governing bodies.
- Confirm the structural integrity of the barrier to contain and redirect vehicles.
- Ensure compliance with maintenance contract obligations.