TreeFend is Top of the Safety Tree

The TreeFend tree and post impact protection system was the first product to be impacted during the two-day Passive Safety Crash Demonstrations which took place at MIRA last month.  A 1430kg Saab was propelled at the TreeFend system at 70kmh to demonstrate its capabilities to withstand an angled impact at this speed.  Its successful performance certainly started off the event with a bang!  Delegates at the event were impressed by the small amount of damage sustained by both the vehicle and the TreeFend system.  On impacting the system, the vehicle was safely redirected away from the hazard.  The limited damage sustained by the system in an impact of this type would generally require that only the impacted half of the system would need replacement.  This provided a dramatic contrast to the demonstration which followed in which a vehicle was impacted into a telegraph pole, where the impacting vehicle was substantially damaged and the telegraph pole snapped above ground level.

The level of damage suggests that the system is particularly suitable for rural locations, (where impacts may not be immediately reported) as TreeFend demonstrated that in impacts of this type it can still offer a level of protection even after an initial impact.  TreeFend has also been included as offering a solution in David Milne’s The Passive Revolution Guidelines. (Source: http://www.thepassiverevolution.co.uk)  

TreeFend was first introduced to UK specifiers at the Passive Safety Crash Demonstration event in May 2008.  It has since been awarded a commendation at this year’s Traffex from the EuroRAP Surveyor TEC Passive Safety Award 2009 and TreeFend was the major feature of Highway Care’s stand at this year’s Traffex, attracting a great deal of attention from local authorities and other interested parties.

The first UK installation of a TreeFend system was in December 2008 on the A167 dual carriageway at Chester-le-Street, County Durham.  Durham County Council, often at the forefront of new products and road safety initiatives, needed a product to provide protection to motorists who may be at risk from impacting a tree which could not be removed.  Due to the position of the tree, the normal barrier end treatment could not be utilized and so TreeFend offered the ideal solution. 

A further ten systems have been installed at other sites around the UK including four systems for Norfolk County Council as part of a Department for Transport Rural Demonstration Project.  The project aims to establish best practice for road safety and casualty reduction using new and innovative methods that can be applied across the whole country.  Highway Care offers design guidance on installation and suitability of sites for the TreeFend system. 

TreeFend is specifically designed to offer a more forgiving roadside by protecting vehicles from impacting roadside hazards which can include trees, posts, lighting columns, phone boxes, utility poles or road signs.  In 2006, there were 3,368 accidents in Britain in which a vehicle struck a tree; 272 of these were fatal. (Source: Department for Transport, ‘Road Casualties Great Britain 2006’)  Trees and signposts pose a significant risk to motorists due to the consequence of an impact.  Nearly every week, we can read in the newspaper of a road death involving a motorist colliding with a tree at the roadside.  TreeFend offers a new solution to this long standing problem by providing protection to specific roadside hazards.  Its reduced length and protective energy absorbing ends make it an alternative to traditional solutions.  The curved design of the system significantly reduces the risk of errant vehicles impacting the hazard and helps to capture and safely redirect the vehicle.  TreeFend offers the solution where a tree, group of trees or roadside hazard cannot be removed or relocated and it is ideal for use in areas where longer runs of barrier are not possible due to space limitations, aesthetic or economic reasons.  The TreeFend is a two piece symmetrical design which has been arranged to be impacted from both directions which means motorists are protected from impacting the hazard from whichever direction they approach. 

The system has been successfully tested to BS EN1317 part 2, achieving containment level N2, with an Accident Severity Index of Level ‘A’.  The standard model of the system is 6.4 metres in length and comprises two symmetrically arranged half sections which are mounted on separate C-posts, so the position of the system can be easily adjusted to shield the hazard.  The system can be extended up to 26 metres to protect either single or multiple hazards up to a length of 20 metres.  TreeFend can be used to shield hazards on roads with a speed limit up to 50mph.  The wrap around design of the system with its protective energy absorbing ends ensures that errant vehicles are prevented from impacting the hazard and instead are smoothly and safely redirected back in the direction of travel.