At ATSSA’s 39th Annual Convention & Traffic Expo, held in February in San Jose, Calif., products received Innovation Awards. First place was awarded to Mobile Barriers LLC for their MBT1 trailer. Second place was a tie between Plastic Safety Systems Inc.’s RoadQuake rumble strip and Nucor Steel Marion Inc’s NU_GUARM guardrail system. Third place was SAFECO Industries LLC’s Traff-Alert Internally Illuminated Flagger Paddles. Twelve new products were introduced at the Expo during ATSSA’s New Product Showcase. The following is an overview of what was introduced.
Speedy delivery
The SPEEDsentry Shield (Circle 900) is a conveniently portable radar speed sign. Weighing 15 lb including battery, it can fit in the passenger seat and be mounted almost anywhere—pole, trailer or vehicle.
The shield’s lithium ion batteries provide longer life in a smaller package. Its welded aluminum enclosure, shatterproof shield and impact-absorbing corners make it highly durable. The flexible polycarbonate absorbs energy, reducing the likelihood of damage upon impact.
Both the wireless and PDA onboard buttons are easy to understand, and it is easy to download and review the days and times clients need in the speed bins they choose.
Trailer blazer
The Mobile Barriers Trailer (Circle 901) is an integrated, rigid-wall trailer that can be used in conjunction with standard semitractors to provide mobile, improved safety and work environments for personnel at applicable maintenance, construction and security sites.
The trailer is specifically designed to reduce work-zone incursions by passing traffic, to reduce the number of collateral vehicles and equipment needed at and within the work zone and to improve lighting and ambient conditions, thus improving general conditions and alertness onsite.
The trailer provides a physical and visual wall between passing traffic and maintenance personnel. With integrated crash attenuation at the rear, a semitractor at the front and a rigid wall on the side toward passing traffic, the trailer provides 100 ft of barrier and protected work area.
Time to reflect
The Filtrona Extrusion FG 300 Turnpike Grade Curb System (Circle 902) is a one-piece modular curb system for high-speed, high-impact managed lane separation and two-way, two-lane detour work zones.
Turnpike grade curb separators feature engineered polymer alloys for toughness at temperature extremes, and the curb system is designed to stand up to the toughest of conditions. Stable platform for high-speed installations helps eliminate vehicle vaulting. The curb leading edge has an imbedded cube corner reflective lens for high retroreflectivity.
Internal light
SAFECO Industries LLC’s Internally Illuminated Flagger Paddles (Circle 903) have been designed for heavy-highway contractors, state DOTs and utility contractors who work in high-speed zones, night paving operations and low-visibility environments.
The paddles meet all MUTCD retroreflectivity standards. They are available in 18-in. and 24-in. widths. The paddles come standard with HIP sheeting, internal LEDs, a fully integrated rechargeable battery pack and IP65 replaceable switches. The LEDs are internal—no “embedded” bulky or screwed-on LEDs to break or fall off. The paddles can be ordered with any reflective sheeting.
Ready to rumble
Plastic Safety Systems’ RoadQuake Temporary Portable Rumble Strip (Circle 904) improves work-zone safety, alerting drivers to reduce their speeds. A temporary device, RoadQuake does not require adhesives, epoxies, bolts or nails for installation. It conforms to the road surface.
At 105 lb, RoadQuake is portable. A crew of two can install or remove a set of rumble strips in minutes. At 11 ft long, RoadQuake transverses an entire lane. At 12 in. wide and 13/16 in. thick, RoadQuake generates a significant audible and vibratory alert.
Superior safety
The Yodock Wall Co. Inc.’s Traffic Control System (Circle 905) is centered around the patented ballastable energy disbursement cell. Made of heavy-duty polyethylene, these EDCs can be accessorized to meet a variety of traffic-control product categories.
The system provides quality safety to workers and traffic participants. Using a versatile product for many applications saves yard space and reduces capital costs. High-quality, durable material and superior product design ensure a long lifetime with minimal maintenance.
The barricades are capable of being anchored to a surface for a more permanent installation.
Flexible solution
3M has introduced the Flexible Prismatic Reflective Sheeting Series 3300 (Circle 906), a new flexible prismatic material that provides high performance and conformability around curves and corners, making it ideal for reflectorizing reboundable traffic-control devices such as drums, barricades and channelizers.
The series was designed to meet customer requirements for performance, flexibility and durability. It provides attention-grabbing brightness for enhanced work-zone safety, even at high entrance angles that can occur when control devices have been moved or misaligned.
Power tower
Allmand Bros. Inc.’s V Series Vertical Light Tower (Circle 907) is a compact trailer including a seven-section lighting tower that telescopes and retracts vertically.
The V series configuration features an electric winch, which allows the mast to be raised and lowered in 30 seconds. The mast retracts and telescopes in and out of its own housing, which results in easier setup, simplified shipping, easier towing and storage and reduced potential for damage.
The new design allows for more intuitive light fixture positioning. The tower is still vertical when retracted, making accurate fixture adjustments fast and simple.
Solid solution
Advanced Striping Equipment Inc.’s 4-4-4 Centerline Double Die (Circle 908) is designed for solid double-line application consisting of a 4-in. line with a 4-in. gap and another 4-in. line. This die gives the ability to lay both centerlines simultaneously in a single pass, providing major operational cost savings.
In addition to cost savings, the die also features variable trough widths, variable center gap width, a swivel die claw, time savings and labor savings. The aluminum-made die is user-friendly.
Optimal safety
C&C Signal’s new solar-powered Barricade Light Series (Circle 909) features a patent-pending circuit design offering an industry-first solar-cell optimization control and patent-pending case design.
The solar products are not solar-assisted utilizing conventional batteries or old nickel metal hydride or lead acid batteries. The battery is a green product, which is safe for the environment and safe in abusive operation.
The circuit not only controls over and under voltage charging of the batteries, but also offers the industry’s first circuit that optimizes charging based on solar-cell illumination. No matter the lighting conditions, the unit will optimize control to insure the light is always charging under any lighting conditions.
Good conditions
Designed to allow highway agencies and construction crews to quickly mark and monitor construction sites, iCone (Circle 910) is a highly deployable ITS platform that allows workers to mark and monitor work zones with no setup or special training. iCone communicates the live traffic data to iconetraffic.com or directly to a client’s server.
iCone is a work-zone-hardened device in a MUTCD-compliant drum that provides speed and volume traffic conditions monitoring.
iCones can be placed anywhere a traffic barrel could be placed..
Closing the gaps
Linetech Design & Manufacturing has announced the release of the Asset Tracker (Circle 911), the newest product in the DataLine series. Combining a PDA for data collection with powerful report and data integration tools, Asset Tracker can fill any or all the gaps in an organization’s asset management program.
At the core of the system is an easy-to-use Windows Mobile-based application running on a GPS-equipped PDA or Smartphone. It uses custom templates that can be altered based on customer requirements and allows for simultaneous collection of multiple assets by a single operator.
Additional tools allow collected data to be exported into an Excel-based report. All data resides in an SQL database for integration with GIS, mapping and web-based systems.
