Xtensions extend A14 safety barriers

Highway Care has supplied 74 Xtension 110 P4 terminals for use on the A14.  The A14 is a key strategic route which links the port of Felixstowe in East Anglia with industrial centres in the Midlands; over the last six months work has been underway to install fibre optic cables along the A14’s length in order to provide real-time traffic information to 72 electronic overhead signs.  Birse Civil Engineering awarded the contract to Arbus Civil Engineering to install safety barrier to protect this vital and costly infrastructure. 

The Xtension 110 P4 terminal is still a relatively new product in the UK and is unique in the way that it absorbs energy of an impacting vehicle.  The errant vehicle engages with the head of the system forcing a friction plate to slide along two heavy-duty cables, thereby safety dissipating the energy of the impact.  Site operatives on the A14 have described their preference for a system with fewer parts, a universal handed head system for approach and departures, and greater ease of assembly, all of which the Xtension satisfies.  Fewer parts to stock and time-saving by the side the road also reward the contracting company and ultimately the client.  Arbus Civil Engineering are now working along the M11 installing a further 30 systems.  The Xtension is one of a suite of products available to offer barrier end protection along with double sided P4 terminals and crash cushion systems.