ArcelorMittal USA develops steel highway barrier

The barrier would redirect vehicles, instead of just absorbing the force of an impact. ArcelorMittal says it is a more cost-effective alternative to concrete highway barriers, and is a way of reducing one of the leading causes of death: motor vehicle accidents.

“In the early 2000s, ArcelorMittal worked with European safety barrier manufacturers to design higher performance safety barriers as a result of new regulations that promoted safety performance instead of specifying set barrier configurations,” said Rich Clausius, projects manager, Global R&D, East Chicago. “This work proved to be quite successful and led to safer roads and increased steel sales in Europe. In 2008, I was asked to determine if the same approach could be done in the US.”

ArcelorMittal is trying to boost steel sales in the United States, where its business has been declining and it has cut back on production capacity over the last few years.

“It’s a win–win,” Clausius said. “There are many benefits. This barrier results in lower deceleration rates on impact versus concrete, resulting in less damage to the vehicle and injuries to the occupants. It also has a lower installed cost than a comparable concrete center median barrier.”

ArcelorMittal’s highway barrier design incorporates advanced high-strength steel that’s traditionally been mainly used by the auto industry.

“As far as we can tell, this is the first time it’s been used in a US safety barrier application," Clausius said.

ArcelorMittal USA reached out to the four largest steel safety barrier manufacturers in the United States before bringing its idea before the U.S. Transportation Research Board's Roadside Safety Design Committee and researchers, highway officials government contractors, safety hardware manufacturers and crash test experts.

“Of the four, Gregory Industries proved to be the most interested in our capabilities and in developing a new proprietary barrier for the U.S. market. They were already an ArcelorMittal customer, so that helped too,” Clausius said.

Testing was successful and ArcelorMittal USA expects to begin marketing and making the barrier as soon as it receives U.S. Federal Highway Administration approval this year. It’s also seeking patents to protect its intellectual property.