SA Guardrail Pty. Ltd DPTI South Australia Supply of 8kms of Ezy-Guard Smart in median and verge applications terminated with the energy absorbing ET2000 Plus end-terminal, trailing terminals and rigid transitions. The Southern Expressway is an 18.5 kilometre carriageway connecting Adelaide’s Main South Road at Darlington with Main South Road at Old Noarlunga. Before the project, it provided for travel in one direction only. On weekdays traffic flows north from 2.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and south from 2:00pm to 12:30am. During the 90 minute changeover period access to the road is progressively closed and re-opened to traffic. On weekends and public holidays the times for northbound and southbound traffic flows are reversed. This was the world’s longest reversible one way free way.
The Southern Expressway Duplication project has transformed the reversible expressway into a conventional two-way express-way opened to two-way traffic on 3 August 2014. The duplication was built entirely on the western side of the original roadway, with three lanes from Darlington to Reynella and two lanes from Reynella and Old Noarlunga. The project also widened the existing expressway bridges over local roads, lengthened pedestrian and road bridges over the Southern Expressway, and added new on-ramps and off-ramps at existing interchanges.
Design of the project coincided with the introduction of the Ezy-Guard Smart system into the Australian safety barrier market. Due to its proven high performance characteristics compared to some of the dated systems on the market, this MASH Test Level 3 system was chosen to mitigate many of the associated safety hazards from such a busy freeway. Installations included median and verge applications to prevent run off-road vehicles from impacting rigid road side hazards, or entering non-recoverable embankments. These verge installations typically used the energy absorbing ET2000 Plus, or MELT end treatments.
Installation was carried out by SA Guardrail Pty. Ltd., one of the leading dedicated installers of road safety barriers in South Australia. Working with the designers, head contractor and installer, Ingal Civil Products, provided the type of quality products and service the industry has come to rely on from Australia’s number one supplier of road safety barriers.