Steel Road Barriers Suppliers in South Africa: Who to Choose?
As one of the leading steel road barriers suppliers in South Africa, we know that our W-beam guardrails are also used across the country in a wide range of applications. With these guardrails serving as safety products, we take their designs and manufacturing seriously.
We want our clients to make informed decisions on the best steel barriers for their application needs rather than shop for the cheapest suppliers in South Africa. When it comes to the safety of motorists and pedestrians, you cannot compromise on material and design quality for the sake of saving money. Buying cheaper could cost valuable lives.
It’s also for these reasons you shouldn’t purchase from just any overseas suppliers, who are not subject to the stipulations of the Consumer Protection Act of South Africa (CPA). The Act is in place to protect consumers against faulty products and false claims from suppliers. Since we’re one of the local steel road barriers suppliers in South Africa, you have the assurance that our products meet the quality and safety standards relevant to road safety products and steel barriers in particular.
To help you make an informed decision regarding our W-beam steel guardrails, we take you through the types of barriers and take a closer look at the W-beam type, uses, places where these products are installed, and details about the beams we supply.
Main types of permanent road safety barriers available from South African suppliers 
Many types of road barriers exist. These are categorised according to how rigid they are, their ability to absorb kinetic energy upon impact, and how much of the impact force is distributed.
A concrete type is the most rigid and least forgiving, but it prevents breakthrough. It has some re-direct ability but serves mostly to prevent breakthroughs.
A wire-rope fence gives way more than a W-beam structure, absorbs a lot of kinetic impact force and takes up very little surface space. The wire ropes are made from a strong cable suspended between posts. Upon impact, the rope system absorbs and distributes the impact energy. This type of barrier is rather forgiving, but it may not be able to prevent breakthroughs like concrete types.
The W-beam structure consists of galvanised or non-galvanised steel beams, which are attached to steel or wooden posts. These posts are installed on the road surface or buried into the soil and placed at specific intervals with the system having end-terminals in the form of flat or bull-nose type ends. These prevent the steel beams from penetrating the vehicle’s body upon direct impact with the end of the steel beam. In some instances, the end of the beam is buried in the soil.
Uses for the W-beam guardrails include installation at:
- Harbour yards to prevent vehicles from driving into the sea.
- Bridges over highways and rail lines, as well as water sources.
- Next to roads to protect straying vehicles from direct impact with unforgiving objects like trees, walls and rocks.
- Next to roads on dangerous sections, such as mountain passes, curves where there’s a risk of vehicles travelling at too high speed and not being able to make the turn without losing control, subsequently leaving the safety of the drive path.
- Next to city roads to prevent motorists from driving onto the paths allocated for pedestrians and cyclists.
- In the median of two opposite flowing highways to prevent accidents from one highway spilling over to the other, and to prevent motorists from making U-turns into the fast lanes of the opposite direction highways.
W-beam guardrails significantly improve road safety in several ways:
- Improve driver confidence at night as the beams indicate the side of the road, giving drivers assurance that should their vehicle stray off the safe path, it will not go over the side of the cliff.
- The beams serve to slow down vehicles upon side impact as the result of the friction between the vehicles and the steel of the beams.
- Reduce median clustering and the risk of head-on collisions related to it, especially at night because the beams indicate road edge, giving drivers the confidence to keep to the left side.
- Prevent motorists from driving over pedestrians and cyclists.
- Reduce the impact force on the vehicle occupants as the beams absorb the impact force and distribute it along the entire length of the guardrail.
- Redirect straying vehicles back into their original path of travel.
What sets us apart as steel road barriers suppliers in South Africa?
Our firm has an international footprint, giving us a large pool of experts for the design and test processes. We’re also a trusted galvanising service provider. Our products are also used in applications such as culverts and we have a proven track record of quality products.
In addition to the W-beam guardrails, we supply a range of road safety products, which are often used in conjunction with steel barriers. All our products are tested and specifically made to meet the application needs for South African roads.
Our engineers provide guidelines on correct installation. For one, the distance between the posts affects the effectiveness of the barrier. They factor in such aspects in addition to the height required to prevent vehicles with high ground clearance from going over the beams upon impact.
We provide detailed information and specifications for the products and materials used and as trusted suppliers in South Africa, we don’t recommend the installation of any type of barrier if it is not necessary. This is so because a barrier is also an obstacle, making it a hazard. The test is to determine whether a straying vehicle has enough space to safely come to a standstill or to return to the drive path without rolling, going into a water source, onto oncoming traffic, down a hill or into a hazard.
Information about the W-beam guardrail barriers available from us for South Africa
As trusted suppliers, we sell these as galvanised for maximum protection against corrosion. However, uncoated sections are available. The beams can curve and are available in different lengths. Delineators are available for attachment to make the beams highly visible at night. View these W-beam guardrails here for more information.
Don’t compromise on quality for the sake of price. Buy from one of the leading suppliers in South Africa of road safety products including a range of barriers. Reach out for a quote and help in choosing the products, best suited for your application needs.