Mobile crash barriers to smooth out motorway traffic

Barrier Transfer Machine being tested for the first time in the Nordics near Copenhagen

For the first time ever, the Danish road directorate Vejdirektoratet is using mobile crash barriers to help commuters better pass through heavy roadworks on the Køge Bugt Motorway south of Copenhagen.

The work being carried out on the busy stretch of motorway is entering its final phase this week, and the mobile crash barriers will be used to create extra lanes according to the direction in which the traffic is most congested.

“It’s makes sense if the mobile crash barriers can provide those who are driving to work with the most lanes – especially when there is minimal traffic driving in the opposite direction,” the transport minister, Ole Birk Larsen, told DR Nyheder.

READ MORE: Copenhagen sets new cycling record

Nordic first
It takes less than an hour to move 6 km of mobile crash barriers along the Køge Bugt Motorway – Denmark’s busiest stretch of road with over 120,000 vehicles using it daily.

It’s the first time the mobile crash barrier has been tested in the Nordics. To set up the barrier, the Barrier Transfer Machine vehicle ‘eats’ up the concrete blocks from one lane and then deposits them out of its rear to form another lane.

The Barrier Transfer Machine, an example of which can be seen operating in the video below, is custom-made and measures 15 metres in length and 4.4 metres in width.

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