Highway guardrails are critical to keeping roads safe by helping prevent minor accidents from escalating into major ones. Guardrails are usually placed in safe areas to protect drivers from more dangerous areas along the road. Guardrails also keep drivers safe and quickly repaired in the event of an accident.

The purpose of the guardrail is to protect drivers who have closed the road. Guardrails are used to prevent drivers from hitting obstacles such as steep embankments, hillsides, telephone poles, earth barriers, and bridge posts. It is safer to hit the guardrail than to hit these obstacles. The role of guardrails is to reduce the severity of accidents and make the road safer for drivers.

Highway guardrails are usually PVC-coated or galvanized. A zinc or PVC coating prevents the guardrail from rusting and corrosion and also helps protect it from damage caused by severe weather.

Galvanized guardrails are constructed of high-strength 12-gauge and 10-gauge galvanized steel. This provides the guardrail with effective shock absorption in the event of a crash. The most common guardrails are galvanized W-beam guardrails. These longitudinal barriers are designed to help reduce the severity of vehicle accidents.

This type of rail is rolled into a W shape to help it grip the car bumper. From mounting hardware to wooden blackouts, they are designed to be efficient and economical.

Guardrails can function differently depending on a variety of factors, including the angle, speed, and size of the vehicle. It can deflect the vehicle back onto the road if the impact isn't too big and happens at a small angle. The guardrail will also slow it down to a complete stop. This prevents vehicles from entering particularly dangerous areas. These could be anything, including steep drops, large objects like trees or utility poles, and other lanes going in the opposite direction. 

Typically, the beams on the guardrail are bent into a specific shape to maximize energy absorption and minimize vehicle damage. The most common of these shapes is the w-beam, which resembles the shape of the letter w turned upside down.

Damage reduction

If the car or truck hits the guardrail hard enough to pass through the guardrail, the guardrail acts to reduce the impact on the driver and passenger.

Damage and the effect of an injury. One way it does this is by slowing the vehicle down enough to make any subsequent effects less severe. The guardrail also ensures that any car it comes in contact with does not tip over. Even if it gets hit at its end (where the guardrail starts), engineers have designed it so that the rail slides off under the force of the vehicle until it comes to a safe stop. This is a similar principle followed by the front of the car. The front sides and guardrails of the vehicle have been shrunk to a certain extent to reduce the severity of frontal collisions with occupants.

The above briefly describes the types and importance of highway guardrails. If you need to install highway guardrails in your area, please contact us.

BAOLAI is a professional custom highway guardrail manufacturer. We have been rated as "Top 100 Enterprises in Tianjin" for two consecutive years, "Top 500 Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises" for five consecutive years, and have a bank credit rating of "AAA". In addition to being a supplier of our full range of products, BAOLAI aims to expand its commitment to customers by enhancing services and adding new facilities. A dedicated team provides technical support to advise on the correct use of steel and assist customers in getting the most out of the product.