Precast Concrete Barriers for Road Safety & Construction in UAE: A Complete Guide: Road safety in UAE relies heavily on the proper use of precast concrete barriers, which are essential for ensuring safety during construction and operation.
All drivers on a UAE road make a silent pact: that the road has been constructed in a proper manner, the signage is understandable and the concrete between you and the opposing drivers will perform its function in the event of any unusual circumstances. Concrete is virtually always precast and the UAE’s road network is rapidly growing and has never had more to ride on than it does at this time.
This guide will cover what precast concrete barriers are, how they’re made, why they’re typically superior to on-site casting, the types of barriers found throughout the UAE, and how to determine which type you need for your project.
The Scale of UAE Road Investment
Before considering the actual product, one should first have a sense of the amount of road being constructed. Rather than making some minor adjustments to its network, the UAE is currently implementing one of the most ambitious road investment programs in the world.
Under the plan, Etihad Road will be widened to 12 lanes, Emirates Road will be widened to 10 lanes along its length and a new federal highway, 12 lanes in length and stretching 120km, to accommodate up to 360,000 trips per day will be studied.Under the plan, Etihad Road will be widened to 12 lanes, Emirates Road will be widened to 10 lanes throughout the length of the road and a new federal highway, 12 lanes in length and 120km long, will be studied to accommodate up to 360,000 trips per day.
For each kilometre of that expansion, barriers are required. Precasted concrete barriers are not being used in a niche application, but rather are a fundamental part of the materials used in infrastructure projects that are under actual construction.
What is Precast Concrete Barriers?
A precast concrete barrier is a concrete barrier that is made in a controlled factory environment, and then delivered to the worksite for assembly. It’s the word “precast” that’s the important part: the concrete cures in an optimized factory instead of on a live road in temperatures of 40+ degrees and traffic management costs compound hour by hour.
In manufacturing the concrete is poured in the mold, cured with a set strength and durability, and then the units are transported to site. That simplifies the process of producing uniform quality, far more than is possible with variable field conditions.
When barriers are brought on site they can be deployed straight away. No formwork, no waiting for the concrete to set, no weather’s influence. That difference is significant in a construction market where time is always of the essence and temperatures are often high in the summer.
The Cases for Precast Construction Generally Outweigh the Cases for On-Site Casting
Precast is often the quicker, more reliable, and more economical solution to the common uses of precast concrete, such as highway median, construction zone barrier and edge protection. There are still some situations, such as an unusual shape or highly specific site conditions, that cast-in-place still has a role to play, but it is not the norm.
Generally, the construction industry is one that has speed of deployment as a critical factor and off-site manufacturing eliminates the waiting time of pouring and curing on site completely. Precast units may be more expensive up front to manufacture and deliver, but also are often less expensive overall for the entire project, as they require less labor on site for installation, and installation often occurs sooner than it would in a cast-in-place project, which can offset the cost of traffic management, crane hire and the risk of pour delays due to weather.
The precast barriers are also designed to withstand the harsh conditions in the UAE, including high temperatures, intense winds, and coastal humidity, making them suitable for desert and coastal site locations.
Types of Precast Concrete Barriers in the UAE
There are a number of different profiles of barriers made by suppliers all over Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and other emirates, each with a specific purpose.
Jersey Barriers
Jersey barriers continue to provide the enduring, tried-and-true slope that gently deflects hitting vehicles, and they continue to be an effective method of cordoning off construction sites.
F-Shape Barriers
F-shape barriers are intended for more serious impact applications and are typically defined as a higher speed application on a highway.
Double-Sided Barriers
Double-sided barriers are constructed for highway medians where both sides of the barrier must perform for both live traffic on each side. For road edges in cities or sites where the barrier needs to be in front of each vehicle, single-sided barriers are more suitable.
Interlocking Barriers
Interlocking barriers can be used to form long, stable barriers, especially at high impact sites such as highway construction sites, industrial sites and government facilities where a long continuous barrier line is important. The modular design also aligns with the rapidly evolving construction industry in the UAE, where sites are frequently subject to changes.
Road Safety Applications
Sheikh Zayed Road, E311 (Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road), E611 (Emirates Road) and other major roads in UAE are most familiar to the public for the use of precast concrete barriers to delimit medians and edges on high speed, high traffic roads. These are permanent installations and failure of barriers is extremely critical, so barrier specification accuracy is very significant.
That is reflected in the scale of investment. Barrier units are needed in thousands for such large-scale projects, which must be manufactured to meet the specifications set by the road authority and municipality and approved by them.
In urban communities, barriers are also an important component of protection, beyond paint and signage, in the protection of school zones, pedestrian crossings, and intersections.
Construction Site Safety Applications
In the UAE, precast barriers have consistent demand through construction sites, active projects in all seven emirates. In the field, barriers can serve a few overlapping functions: to exclude people from hazards, to maintain proper separation of vehicle traffic, or to comply with the documentation that municipalities require for their site safety approvals.
Here it’s more important than many contractors realize. Every emirate has its own criteria and meeting the requirements as a “standard product” is a frequent recipe for a failed inspection and a delayed project. It is always cheaper to get the specification right from the beginning, than to fix it after delivery.
Compliance and Certification Standards
The UAE is not where compliance comes as an afterthought: it’s a precondition for product approval and installation. Compliance audits are not an impediment to manufacturing to the UAE road safety requirements in conjunction with internationally recognised standards, such as European EN standards and American AASHTO guidelines, by reputable suppliers.
Most barriers are made of Grade 40 concrete or greater, and the reinforcement is usually determined based on the load and security requirements. For highway applications, performance is measured by EN 1317 certification for crash testing, which rates barriers according to the containment level, working width and impact severity, matching the appropriate barrier to the appropriate highway and speed environment.In highway applications, performance is determined by crash test certification to EN 1317 which classifies barriers by containment level, working width and impact severity, matching the appropriate barrier to the appropriate highway and speed environment.
It will be very necessary to have RTA’s approval for the installation of barriers on public roads in Dubai, and each emirate has a similar process of approval via the municipality. When it comes to evaluating who to work with, suppliers who do work on a regular basis with the government infrastructure client consider them standing documentation, rather than the paperwork they put together when asked.
Selecting the Appropriate Barrier for Your Project
It takes real time and money if the specification is incorrect at the time of delivery. There are various applications with varying load, height and certification requirements, such as highway medians, construction areas, event areas, industrial areas and urban roads.
When planning applications for highways, the containment level needs to be derived from the design speed and traffic density according to the criteria of the EN 1317 classifications. Ideally, always check the exact specifications of the Municipality regulating the construction site as these are different from emirate to emirate.
Cast in place works best for custom geometry or in complex terrain or when installation time is likely to be long; precast is a better solution for high-speed roadways or where rapid installation is required. Prior to ordering, make sure to check the supplier’s certifications, verify their ability to deliver to your unique site and secure dimensional tolerances as a part of the procurement spec. Just as the product spec is subject to scrutiny, so is lead time — all the barriers that meet all the technical requirements are worth nothing if they are not received at the time the site requires them.
The Future of Precast Concrete Barriers in the UAE
The government’s road investment program to 2030 signals long-term consistent demand for precast concrete barriers which is lacking in few markets at this time. This is not an isolated increase in demand and federal road efficiency is being pushed to increase by 73 per cent over the next few years, with new projects being launched in all seven emirates.
Precast barriers are a vital part of a contractor’s, project manager’s and developer’s job when dealing with this kind of environment. Their immediate impact is on safety compliance, project schedules and regulatory approvals from the ground up. The UAE has the supplier, standards and the pipeline, it is just the product and the partner that you can control.