‘Colorado Barrier’ Repurposes Old Tires for Road Safety

A new type of roadway barrier known as the Colorado barrier — a nod to the concrete Jersey barrier — was approved for use on roadways with speed limits of up to 44 miles per hour, reports Ben Thorpe in Equipment World.

The barrier is made of recycled tires. “Manufacturing an 8-foot Colorado Rubber Barrier uses 100 tires, meaning a mile’s worth of barriers uses 65,000 tires. Over 1.8 billion tires end up in landfills or are burned each year, of which 300 million are in the U.S.”

According to the company that independently tested the barrier, the barrier meets the goal of providing “a forgiving roadway and roadside that reduces the risk of a serious crash when a motorist leaves the roadway, as well as towards bystander motorists and pedestrians.” The barriers could reduce damage to vehicles by absorbing more energy, and are lighter and easier to relocate.