Traffic congestion is a big problem for every city, especially on bridges. As the daily traffic on a bridge increases, the best way to increase bridge capacity is to create a managed lanes facility. By doing so, additional lanes can be created for the peak traffic direction.
For over 50 years, the lanes on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco were divided by lines of small plastic tubes to manage the commuter traffic. An employee sitting on the back of a truck used to drop these tubes to create the lanes.
But now a flexible barrier has been set up by a highly specialized truck built by Lindsay Transportation Solutions that can accommodate various traffic patterns by shifting the barrier. Moveable barriers not only create managed lanes for bridges, but also provides positive barrier protection for motorists.
More About the Road Zipper:
The Road Zipper is a new piece of machinery that can easily shift the barrier one lane over. It lifts the barrier wall from the road surface and moves it laterally one or more lanes at speeds up to 10 mph (16 km/h).
Each of the system’s 3,500 moveable steel-reinforced barriers weighs 1,500 pounds. This amazing machine moves the barriers along the 1.7-mile bridge in a matter of minutes.
