RESEARCH INTO A CIRCULAR AND LOW CARBON SAFETY BARRIER BRINGS STA MEMBERS TOGETHER
On Tuesday 19 December 2023, Members of the Smart Transportation Alliance (STA) united at the headquarters of Road Steel Engineering, a Gonvarri Industries company, in Valladolid, Spain.
The participants visited the office of the Research & Development department (R&D) within Road Steel Engineering at the Science Park University of Valladolid, Spain. The company also maintains a testing and prototyping laboratory facility in the area of Dueñas, Spain.
Representatives from Aleatica, a global operator of transportation infrastructure, and Etelätär Innovation, a company offering innovative circular mobility solutions, together with the STA Secretariat, participated in the one-day meeting that was marked as a melting pot of knowledge, experiences, and collaborative spirit, focused on the recent research developments of Road Restraint Systems (RRS) towards a greener path, in full commitment to the green transition in Europe.
Mr. Antonio Amengual, Director of Road Safety at Road Steel by Gonvarri Industries, welcomed all participants to the offices where he explained all the necessary steps that need to be followed in the development lifecycle of new road equipment, ranging from design concepts and computational simulations to evaluate the parameters and the potential barrier deformation from the impact to component testing and full-vehicle crash tests in relevant environments.
The research exercise led by the R&D Team of Road Steel Engineering aims to develop a groundbreaking barrier by transforming plastic waste into polymeric structural bars that include also a resilient memory steel feature, meaning that it can be bent back into shape even after a vehicle impact and can be reused.
Mr. Juan Garcia, R&D Coordinator at Road Steel Engineering, delivered a presentation, explaining the current activities of the company and the different types of products the company is working on. Furthermore, he highlighted the various parameters that need to be taken into account when a vehicle collides with a road safety barrier including i) the velocity of a vehicle; ii) vehicle mass; iii) the angle of the impact; iv) the type of the vehicle; and v) road or weather conditions at the moment of the impact. The participants also discussed the need for new and higher-performing roadside safety systems, which go beyond the current norms and are safe for real-world conditions (including higher shares of electric, hybrid, autonomous and heavy vehicles, but also to climate change).
The meeting ended with a site visit and a real-life crash test at Road Steel Engineering’s testing and prototyping laboratory facility, which allowed the participants to retrieve further information on-site about the testing process and the recycling process of barriers and vehicles after test activities.
Video Demonstration of the Crash Test of the Circular & Low Carbon Safety Barrier (Copyright: Road Steel Engineering)
It was a great opportunity for STA members to engage one more time before the end of 2023, which marks a very successful year!
Find out a full presentation about the Circular & Low Carbon Safety Barriers available at the 2023 STA Annual Conference & Innovations Awards proceedings.
If you missed Episode 1 of STA Smart Talks, click on the link below & watch Mr Amengual in an insightful discussion with STA President and host of STA Smart Talks, Dr José Papí diving into the game-changer, Circular & Low Carbon Safety Barriers.
Authors: Eftychia Koliou, Friederike L. Kühl (Smart Transportation Alliance)