ArmorZone™ holding up well

After many years of monitoring the erosion of Pohangina Road - approximately 50 kms north of Palmerston North - the Manawatu District Council (MDC) had quite a dilemma on their hands.

“This section of Pohangina Road has been deteriorating for the last 8-10 years. It was eroding about 500mm per year,” says Jim Mestyanek, Senior Project Engineer for MDC. “There is a 40m drop off down into a gorge and if you look closely at the photo you can see that the erosion has completely undermined the road.”

By 2011 the problem had worsened to the point the Council had to look at options to make this section of road safe for motorists. “This road used to be two lanes but over the years had reduced significantly. The traffic volumes are low, and there was inadequate budget in our Annual Plan to reinstate the full width carriageway. As a short- to intermediate-term solution, we decided to reconfigure the road as a one-lane priority give way and install the ArmorZone™ barriers to keep traffic well away from the edge, ” explains Jim.

“The ArmorZone™ TL-2 Plastic Barrier is one of our most popular barriers for hire,” said David Russell, Hire Manager for CSP. “In this case it didn't make sense for MDC to hire these barriers. Purchasing them was the most economical option. Often smaller Councils around the country do require the use of smaller numbers of ArmorZone™ TL-2 Plastic Barrier or other barriers, and purchasing them is certainly the most cost effective option as freight costs to deliver and pick up would be uneconomical.”