Skip to main content

Crash-friendly reinforced concrete signposts

FSP has bought the intellectual property rights for the Frangible Post System from 3M. It is now supplying the passive safety market with reinforced composite posts that will carry signs on motorways and other busy roads. The FSP product (as previously commercially developed and marketed by 3M) is designed to be strong enough to withstand turbulent weather conditions, but light and flexible enough to collapse on impact, protecting the driver and passengers and causing minimum damage to the vehicle.
February 23, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
FSP is supplying the passive safety market with reinforced composite posts to carry signs on motorways and other busy roads
1604 FSP has bought the intellectual property rights for the Frangible Post System from 152 3M.

It is now supplying the passive safety market with reinforced composite posts that will carry signs on motorways and other busy roads.

The FSP product (as previously commercially developed and marketed by 3M) is designed to be strong enough to withstand turbulent weather conditions, but light and flexible enough to collapse on impact, protecting the driver and passengers and causing minimum damage to the vehicle.

FSP says that it is estimated that collisions with roadside features (sign posts, lamp posts, trees and crash barriers) cause 15% of all road fatalities. Because these objects cannot always be removed from the roadside, the objective has been to provide solutions to reduce the consequences when hit.

"This is the principal behind 'passive safety,' a modern concept in roadside engineering that has the full support of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the backing of the 1441 UK Highways Agency, and increasing interest from many motoring/safety organisations," says FSP.

"The FSP passively safe 140mm diameter post was independantly certified at 777 TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) while owned by 3M and achieved the highest safety ranking awarded to any make of sign post to date achieving NE:3 status. The FSP 140mm post has been designed to meet the European standard for Passive Safety (EN12767)." FSP is now making significant investment in the development of a full range of alternate sized posts of the crash-friendly product to meet demand, and other posts (168mm and 219mm diameter) will be launched in mid-2010.

The company has appointed 3054 ASD metal services(part of Klockner) as its exclusive distributor in the UK and Ireland.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New barriers are helping improve road safety
    June 30, 2014
    A series of new guardrail technologies and barrier developments are now coming to market - Mike Woof writes. An array of technical developments is helping improve highway safety for road users. New barrier and guardrail technologies can offer greater conspicuity so as to alert drivers, along with better restraint capabilities. Gregory Industries offers a wide range of steel and cable barrier types and has now developed an attachment system for international use. This fixes the guardrail to the post and in t
  • Researching vehicle tyre safety
    February 15, 2012
    For the last two years a team of European partners has been examining the interaction between vehicle tyres and road surfaces. According to the UK's TRL, one of the partners in the European project Tyrosafe (Tyre and Road Surface Optimisation for Skid resistance And Further Effects), devices to measure skid resistance were developed at the forerunner of the UK's TRL in the 1930s.
  • Barrier innovation putting traffic safety and flow first
    April 3, 2014
    Cutting-edge barriers offering greater safety at the same time as limiting traffic disruption are proving in demand on busy world highways, as Guy Woodford reports Small footprint; minimum disruption after impact; lower labour costs; all said to be elements contributing to the growing popularity of the Trend terminal from Trinity Highway Products. This family of end terminals offers a range of safe and efficient solutions to barrier ends with quick and easy assembly and installation. Trinity claims th
  • Traffex and Parkex a success
    March 2, 2012
    The organisers of the co-located Traffex, Parkex and Street Design 2011 events say that exhibitors and attendees exceeded expectations.