Road equipped with road safety barriers fixed to the ground and installation method thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to the installation of road safety barriers also known as “guardrails”; and indicates a real “road system”, including special safety barriers, in which each trait of the safety barrier can be installed with the reasonable certainty of compliance with the required safety requirements, and these requirements can be defined differently depending on the trait. Furthermore, this “road system”, including special safety barriers, is associated with an innovative installation and maintenance method, which is not significantly more expensive than the methods currently practiced for the installation and maintenance of simple road barriers, in which the fixing of the uprights to the ground is done by simple infixion into the ground using a “pile-driving machine”. The invention is characterized by an appropriate ground fixing system, which is integrated in said “guardrail”.

1 . A road with a stabilized road substrate ( 201 ) consisting of a ground with known compactness characteristics on which a road surface ( 210 ) is spread, and equipped with a safety road barrier comprising a plurality of uprights ( 110 ), fixed in the edge of the road as in the known art, and wherein said safety barrier comprises at least the elements:
 a. a system of vertical plates ( 153 ), with a thin section, infixed on said road substrate ( 201 ) below said road surface ( 210 );   b. a junction element ( 151 ) arranged to be coupled to an upright ( 110 ) of a road safety barrier by wrapping them around its base;   c. a connecting tie rod ( 152 ) lying, or slightly buried, on the road substrate ( 201 ), which is:
 i. coupled to said system of vertical plates ( 153 ) at one of its ends, and 
 ii. releasably coupled to said junction element ( 151 ) at its other end; 
   and said junction element ( 151 ) comprises parts with programmed breakage;   and said programmed breakage is designed to happen when the following conditions occur:
 said connecting tie rod ( 152 ) exerts a traction force on said junction element ( 151 ) higher than a predetermined threshold, and 
 said connecting tie rod ( 152 ) exerts a traction force on said junction element ( 151 ) lower than the force that would damage said connecting tie rod ( 152 ) or to the force that would cause a displacement of said system of vertical plates ( 153 ) with respect to the road substrate in which it is infixed. 
   
     
     
         2 . The road according to  claim 1  wherein said system of vertical plates ( 153 ) has a cross-shaped section. 
     
     
         3 . The road according to  claim 1  wherein said junction element ( 151 ) comprises:
 c. a U-shaped element ( 151 . 1 ), the size of which is suitable for “wrapping” said uprights ( 110 ) of a road safety barrier; 
 d. a closing bar ( 151 . 3 ), arranged to close said “U”-shaped element ( 151 . 1 ), hooking at its two ends, so as to completely envelop an upright ( 110 ) of a road safety barrier; 
 and said closing bar ( 151 . 3 ) has at least one hole ( 151 . 4 ), being the width of said hole ( 151 . 4 ) adjustable and correlated, by means of a known function, to the traction force that must be exerted on said connecting tie rod ( 152 ) so that said closing bar ( 151 . 3 ) breaks. 
 
     
     
         4 . The road according to  claim 1  wherein each upright ( 110 ) of a sequence of consecutive uprights ( 110 ), infixed in the roadside, is connected to at least two of said systems of vertical plates  153 , and each of said systems of vertical plates  153  is connected to at least two uprights ( 110 ). 
     
     
         5 . The method of installing a safety road barrier for making a road according to  claim 1  starting from a pre-existing road in which the roadway comprises a road substrate ( 201 ) and a road surface ( 210 ) made with an asphalt layer; and this installation method includes at least the steps listed below:
 a. cutting of the asphalt with which said road surface ( 210 ) is made
 i. according to the shape of the section of said system of vertical plates ( 153 ), and 
 ii. according to a line that connects the previous cut and the position where the installation of a “guardrail” upright is planned; 
 
 b. hooking said connecting tie rod ( 152 ) to said system of vertical plates ( 153 ) and laying it inside the cut referred to in point “ii.” above, so that after installation, said tie rod is laid on the road substrate (or slightly buried) below the level of the road surface; 
 c. driving the system of vertical plates ( 153 ) by means of a pile-driving machine, so that it is substantially buried entirely in the road substrate ( 201 ) or protrudes from it for a very small part in comparison with the thickness of the road surface ( 210 ) above; 
 d. coupling said junction element ( 151 ) to the end of the connecting tie rod ( 152 ) which is located near the point where the upright ( 110 ) of a road safety barrier must be fixed; 
 e. driving said upright ( 110 ) of a safety road barrier, by means of a pile-driving machine so that said upright ( 110 ) slips into said junction element ( 151 ) remaining hooked to it; 
 f. tensioning said connecting tie rod ( 152 ) by means of a suitable maneuver performed on said joining element ( 151 ); 
 g. sealing of the cuts made on the asphalt paving. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method for creating a road according to  claim 1  starting from a road in which the roadway, composed of said road substrate ( 201 ) and said road surface ( 210 ), is pre-existing and said road is already equipped with a safety road barrier, installed by simple infixion of the uprights ( 110 ) into the ground at the edge of the road; and this manufacturing method includes at least the steps listed below:
 a. cutting of the asphalt with which said road surface is made ( 210 )
 i. according to the shape of the section of said system of vertical plates ( 153 ), and 
 ii. according to a line that connects the previous cut and the position where the upright of a “guardrail” is planted; 
 
 b. hooking said connecting tie rod ( 152 ) to said system of vertical plates ( 153 ) and laying it inside the cut referred to in point “ii.” above, so that after installation, said tie rod is laid on the road substrate (or slightly buried) below the level of the road surface; 
 c. driving the system of vertical plates ( 153 ) by means of a pile-driving machine, so that it is substantially buried entirely in the road substrate ( 201 ) or protrudes from it for a very small part in comparison with the thickness of the road surface ( 210 ) above; 
 h. coupling said junction element ( 151 ) to an upright ( 110 ) of the road safety barrier with which said road is equipped; 
 i. coupling said junction element ( 151 ) to the end of the connecting tie rod ( 152 ) which is located near the point where it is infixed the upright ( 110 ) of the safety road barrier, that is the same upright to which said junction element ( 151 ) had previously been coupled; 
 j. tensioning said connecting tie rod ( 152 ) by means of a suitable maneuver performed on said joining element ( 151 ); 
 k. sealing of the cuts made on the asphalt paving. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 5  in which the asphalt cutting phase, indicated in both claims at point “a.”, is completed with an asphalt core drilling operation aimed at removing small parts of the road surface ( 210 ) so as to be able to drive into the underlying road substrate ( 201 ) also systems of vertical plates ( 153 ) which have enlargements in their section.