By: Roads & Bridges
When the New Mexico Department of Transportation decided it needed to find a solution for the high costs of repairing their impact attenuators within the “Big I” (the junction of I-40 and I-25 in Albuquerque) they turned to Impact Recovery Systems for the answer.
According to Christina Bahl with the NMDOT, the high incidence of crashes in the Big I contributed to many headaches for the department. Looking to reduce the accidents was “crucial to the operation of the freeway system,” as well as for public safety within the flyovers, and helping to maintain traffic flow in this problem area.
Replacement and maintenance of the impact attenuators on the Big I was being done on a more frequent basis due to a high incidence of impacts involving guardrail or fixed objects such as wall barrier. The DOT patrol logged many man-hours for repairs at this specific milepost and impact absorption device. After performing an analysis of the costs involved due to the high accident rate, the department determined that the average expense to repair the attenuator was $9,000 and in the time period studied six impacts were recorded, resulting in a cost for repair of $54,000.
The goal of the department was to reduce the number of encroachments into the gore areas at critical decision points within the Big I. The use of additional delineation was determined to be advantageous as a way to force drivers to make lane changes sooner, thereby protecting the impact attenuator from damage. Impact Recovery System’s Type III Hazard Markers and Sergeant Stripe units provided the answer the NMDOT was looking for. According to Bahl, “the current data proves success on an immediate scale. Has this site experienced fewer accidents since the installation of the devices? Yes it has.”
At a minor cost, in comparison to that required to repair and maintain their impact attenuators, the NMDOT has found a solution from IRS.
