Reducing crash severity

Road safety barriers are used on many roads in NSW as one method of reducing the severity of crashes. All the barriers are built to meet Australian/New Zealand standard AS/NZ 3845 ‘Road Safety Barrier Systems’ and can be classified as either flexible, semi-rigid or rigid barriers.

Types of road safety barriers used in NSW:

• Wire rope safety barriers are flexible and made of wire ropes supported by posts that are designed to break when struck by a vehicle
• Steel W-beam safety barriers are semi-rigid and made of steel rails mounted on posts that are designed to break when struck by a vehicle
• Concrete safety barriers are rigid and made of concrete and mortar

Safety barriers in action

Wire rope barriers

Watch a video of wire rope barriers being tested or read a transcript.

Steel W-beam barriers

Watch a video of steel W-beam barriers being tested or read a transcript.

Concrete barriers

Watch a video of concrete barriers being tested or read a transcript.