Skip to main content

Concrete barrier challenge

The 5700C-Max unit from Power Curbers has now been used on a tricky shoulder widening job in New South Wales, Australia. The machine carried out the job close to Robertson in the Southern Highlands, about 1.5 hours drive to the south of Sydney. The job required the construction of a 200m long section of barrier, built to the requirements of the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA). The contractor hand-formed the concrete shoulder as it was about 3m wide at the start and narrowed down to 1m at the end.
February 15, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Using the new power curbers 5700-c with the Max package has allowed an australian contractor to slipform a barrier and shoulder for a road project

The 5700C-Max unit from 307 Power Curbers has now been used on a tricky shoulder widening job in New South Wales, Australia. The machine carried out the job close to Robertson in the Southern Highlands, about 1.5 hours drive to the south of Sydney.

The job required the construction of a 200m long section of barrier, built to the requirements of the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA). The contractor hand-formed the concrete shoulder as it was about 3m wide at the start and narrowed down to 1m at the end. The road featured a steep bank on the run up to a bridge, which was why the section had to be upgraded to boost safety. The shoulder was made wider and a barrier wall installed to provide protection as far as the bridge parapet. Construction involved the use of some unusual techniques and the shoulder was excavated and then filled up with high density polystyrene. The concrete shoulder was then poured on top of this, with dowl bars set in the concrete for the wall to attach to. Once the wall was completed, the RTA used shotcrete on the back of the wall to seal off the polystyrene and blend it into the bottom of the structure.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Crash cushion design
    February 13, 2012
    There are key differences in crash cushion design and quality for the United States and European markets. Developments in barrier technologies have followed the varying demands of specific markets, resulting in manufacturers offering different solutions for US and European needs.
  • CRCP is first choice for Belgian highway
    November 28, 2012
    Dan Gilkes reports on a Belgian highway upgrade When the Ministry of Public Works in the Belgian State of Flanders decided to reconstruct and resurface 19km of the N49 Antwerp-Knokke Expressway, continuously reinforced concrete paving (CRCP) with an exposed aggregate surface was the natural material choice. Indeed exposed aggregate, with its high grip and low noise benefits, has been the first option for all motorway surfacing work in Belgium since the 1980s. However, the €15.65 million contract is not a li
  • Revamped concrete runways now in use at Sydney Airport
    November 15, 2013
    Sydney now has a renovated airport runway thanks to contractors Antoun Civil Engineering and Volumetric Concrete Australia. The airport is a major facility as it is the international hub for airlines like Jetstar Airways and Qantas and handles around 37 million travellers each year, with almost 300,000 aircraft movements. Wear was an issue and the decision was made by the Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL) to replace the concrete slabs that make up the runway system. Originally constructed in the 195
  • Machine control technology shortens road contract
    May 28, 2013
    The use of sophisticated machine control technology has helped halve the schedule required for a road contract – Jeff Winke. By using the latest machine control systems on the equipment fleet, a US contractor has managed to halve worker hours, machine time and overall costs. “We chopped 50% off the contract schedule,” said Jim Swenson, licensed professional land surveyor for Oregon Mainline Paving based in McMinnville, Oregon. “The project was completed a year ahead of the two-year schedule,” he explained.