BETONLEITWAND-ELEMENT

Abstract

In a concrete safety barrier element (11, 12) with at least one tension member (3) for connection with an end face to another concrete safety barrier element (12), it is proposed for ensuring high degree of safety and simple handling, to provide—as viewed in the operating position—at least one vertical guide groove (22) for a damping element (4) on at least one of the end faces (21), wherein the guide groove (22) includes lateral boundaries (23) for the damping element (4), and wherein the guide groove (22) is configured for insertion of the damping element (4) from the top.

Description

The invention relates to a concrete safety barrier element with at least one tension member for connection with an additional concrete safety barrier element at end faces.

End faces of conventional concrete safety barrier elements have a receptacle for a connecting element for connection with an adjacent concrete safety barrier element. Disadvantageously, when a vehicle collides with the concrete barrier, joints can be formed between the concrete safety barrier elements, so that a vehicle sliding along a concrete safety barrier element can essentially collide head-on with the adjacent concrete safety barrier element. The formation of a joint by the concrete safety barrier elements therefore represents a substantial safety risk.

It is an object of the invention to provide a concrete safety barrier element which obviates the known disadvantages, which effectively prevents formation of a joint, which has a simple structure and provides a high degree of safety.

This is achieved by the invention in that—as viewed in the operating position—a vertical guide groove for a damping element is provided on at least one of the end faces, that the guide groove has lateral boundaries for the damping element, and that the guide groove is configured for insertion of the damping element from the top.

In this way, the damping element can advantageously be inserted particularly quickly and easily and the tension member can be easily and quickly pretensioned. During a control inspection, the presence of the damping element and hence of the pretension of the tension member can be quickly and easily checked. The guide effectively prevents the damping element from falling out. The damping element can be used in connection with a tensioning screw for support on the adjacent concrete safety barrier element, wherein the tensioning screw can be arranged on an end face of the concrete safety barrier element. The tension member can be additionally pretensioned by changing the range of the screw protruding from the concrete safety barrier element.

In a modification of the invention, the guide groove can be arranged in the lower region of the end face, whereby a pretension of the tension member is generated by the damping element, thereby obviating the need for additional tensioning elements for tensioning the tension member.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the guide groove—as viewed in a direction away from the top surface—can have a decreasing depth at least in certain sections, wherein the guide groove is wedge-shaped at least in certain sections. The wedge-shaped guide groove ensures that the damping element automatically descends when the concrete safety barrier element is deformed, so as to completely fill the gap.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a lateral insertion opening can be disposed above the guide groove. The damping element can then be particularly easily and quickly inserted in the guide groove with the help of the lateral insertion opening.

According to another embodiment of the invention, two guide grooves with a mutual lateral spacing can be provided, providing increased stability against sideways tilting of the concrete safety barrier elements; the damping elements also readily compensate in curved road sections for the different spacings of the concrete safety barrier elements in the region of the laterally spaced guide grooves.

The invention is also directed to a concrete safety barrier with concrete safety barrier elements, wherein two respective concrete safety barrier elements are interconnected at their end faces by at least one tension member under formation of a gap.

Conventional concrete safety barriers of this type are formed of conventional concrete safety barrier elements, as described above, and share their disadvantages.

It is an object of the invention to provide a concrete safety barrier which obviates the known disadvantages, which effectively prevents formation of a joint, which has a particularly simple structure and which provides a high degree of safety.

This is attained with the invention in that—as viewed in the operating position—a vertical guide groove for a damping element is provided on at least one of the end faces of the concrete safety barrier elements, that the guide groove has lateral boundaries for the damping element, and that the guide groove is configured for insertion of the damping element from the top, wherein the damping element is preferably formed as a wedge-shaped element.

This has the advantage that the damping element can be introduced very quickly and easily and that the tension member can be easily and quickly pretensioned. During a control inspection, the presence of the damping element can be quickly and easily checked, with the guide effectively preventing the damping element from falling out.

In a modification of the invention, the guide groove—in a direction away from the top surface—can have a decreasing depth at least in certain sections, wherein the guide groove is wedge-shaped at least in certain sections. The wedge-shaped guide groove ensures that the damping element automatically descends when the concrete safety barrier element is deformed, so as to completely fill the gap.

The invention is also directed to a method for constructing a concrete safety barrier from concrete safety barrier elements, wherein two respective concrete safety barrier elements are connected to one another at their end faces by a tension member under formation of a gap.

In conventional methods, the concrete safety barrier elements are connected with connecting elements after placement, wherein there is frequently a risk that joints are formed in the event of a collision, in particular caused by play between the connecting elements.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method of the afore-described type, which obviates the known disadvantages, which easily and quickly provides a sufficient pretension of the tension members, and wherein the existence of the pretension can be easily checked.

This is attained with the invention in that, during connection of an additional concrete safety barrier element, the additional concrete safety barrier element is coupled to the existing concrete safety barrier with the tension member, the additional concrete safety barrier element is raised, a damping element for pre-tensioning the tension member is arranged in the lower region of the gap, whereafter the additional concrete safety barrier element is lowered, thereby compressing the damping element and pretensioning the tension member.

This has the advantage that the pretension can be easily and rapidly generated, and that no additional elements need to be adjusted after the damping element is introduced. The formation of the pretension can be easily checked by checking the deformation of the damping element.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the damping element can be inserted into a vertical guide groove from the top. This can prevent the damping element from falling out sideways as a result of temperature variations, vibrations or other stresses on the concrete safety barrier.

The invention will be now described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings which illustrate certain embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a concrete safety barrier according to the invention with two concrete safety barrier elements in a side view, whereby one side of one of the concrete safety barrier elements is raised;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the concrete safety barrier of FIG. 1, with the concrete safety barrier element lowered;

FIG. 3 is a top view onto the gap of the concrete safety barrier of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view on the end face of a concrete safety barrier element with lateral damping elements;

FIG. 5 is a top view onto the gap of a concrete safety barrier with concrete safety barrier elements according to FIG. 4, in cross-section;

FIG. 6 is a view on the end face of an additional concrete safety barrier elements with lateral damping elements;

FIG. 7 is a view on the end face of a concrete safety barrier elements with damping elements;

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a top view onto a gap of a concrete safety barrier with concrete safety barrier elements according to FIG. 7, in cross-section; and

FIGS. 10 to 12 show the gap of a concrete safety barrier with concrete safety barrier elements according to FIG. 7 in a side view, with gaps having different widths.

FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate a concrete safety barrier with concrete safety barrier elements 11, 12, wherein two respective concrete safety barrier elements 11, 12 are connected by at least one tension member 3 at the corresponding end faces under formation of a gap. Buckling of the concrete safety barrier following an collision with a vehicle can be prevented by pretensioning the tension member 3.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a method for easily and quickly generating a pretension of the tension member 3. When an additional concrete safety barrier element 12 is added to the concrete safety barrier, the additional concrete safety barrier element 12 is coupled by the tension member 3 to the existing concrete safety barrier, and the additional concrete safety barrier element 12 is raised. The additional concrete safety barrier element 12 is hereby pivoted about the connection of the tension member 3, as shown in FIG. 1. A damping element 4 for pretensioning the tension member 3 is arranged in the lower region of the gap 5. The additional concrete safety barrier element 12 is then lowered, thereby compressing the damping element 4 and pretensioning the tension member 3. In the context of the invention, the additional concrete safety barrier element 12 can also be moved against the concrete safety barrier in the pivoted position. The damping element 4 can be already placed in the lower region of the gap 5 before the additional concrete safety barrier element 12 is moved against the concrete safety barrier. This modification does not impact the underlying operation of the method and can therefore be viewed as being part of the method of the invention. The tension member 3 is pretensioned by the weight of the additional concrete safety barrier element 12 and the damping element 4. The damping element 4 also prevents buckling of the concrete safety barrier and the formation of a joint in the region of the gap 5 during a collision. When employing concrete safety barrier elements, damping elements 4 can be introduced into the gap from the side after the concrete safety barrier is formed, and optionally tensioned relative to one another with a connecting member 45. Such concrete safety barrier elements are illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6.

FIG. 7 shows the end face 21 of a concrete safety barrier element 11, 12 which—as viewed in the operating position—has at least one vertical guide groove 22 at the end face 21, wherein the guide groove 22 has lateral boundaries 23 for the damping element 4 and the guide groove 22 is configured for introduction of the damping element 4 from the top. The lateral boundaries 23 prevent the damping element 4 from falling out sideways during operation. This approach also prevents vibrations and/or air suction from detaching the damping element from the concrete safety barrier.

The lateral boundaries 23 of the guide groove 22 can be provided for receiving the lateral boundaries of the damping element 4.

The guide groove 22 is preferably arranged in the lower region of the end face 21 of the concrete safety barrier element 11, 12, with the damping element 4 generating a pretension of the tension member 3. The pretension is preferably generated by the afore-described method. In other embodiments, the damping element 4 may expand in the gap 5, thereby generating a tension in the gap 5 which in turn pretensions the tension member.

A lateral insertion opening 24 can be provided above the guide groove 22 to allow introduction of the damping element 4 from the side. Several positions for introducing the damping element 4 are shown on the right side in FIG. 7.

The concrete safety barrier elements 11, 12 can be reliably prevented from unintentionally pivoting relative to one another, thereby ensuring short displacements in the event of a collision, by providing at least two laterally spaced guide grooves 22. In this embodiment, the damping elements 4 are designed to prevent rotation as well as to generate a pretension.

The guide groove 22 can—in a direction away from the top surface—be formed at least in certain sections with a decreasing depth, wherein the wedge-shaped element 4 is essentially diametrically opposed. In this way, different spacings in the gap 5 can be compensated by a single damping element 4. In particular, a change in the gap dimension, for example when the gap 5 becomes larger due to temperature variations and the like, can be compensated by allowing the damping element 4 to optionally descend, thereby completely filling the spacing between the two adjacent concrete safety barrier elements 11, 12.

FIGS. 10 to 12 illustrate three positions of the damping element 4 for a different thickness of the gap 5. The guide groove 22 is here at least in certain sections formed as a wedge, wherein the damping element 4 is also formed as a wedge-shaped element. In this way, different thicknesses of the gap 5 can be easily compensated for a curved concrete safety barrier, necessitating only a single size of the damping elements 4.

FIGS. 8 and 9 each show a top view onto the gap 5 of a concrete safety barrier with concrete safety barrier elements 11, 12 in cross-section, wherein the concrete safety barrier elements 11, 12 in FIG. 8 are arranged along a straight section and in FIG. 9 along a curved section. As shown in FIG. 9, the gap 5 has a different width across the width of the concrete safety barrier elements 11, 12. This can be compensated, in particular, by wedge-shaped damping elements 4 and a wedge-shaped guide groove 22, as described above, or by employing different damping elements 4.

The concrete safety barrier elements 11, 12 can be used to construct concrete safety barriers, wherein the damping element 4 is introduced into the vertical guide groove 22 from the top. The concrete safety barrier hence has the features of the concrete safety barrier elements 11, 12.

Additional embodiments of the invention include only a part of the afore-described features, wherein each combination of features, in particular of different embodiments, may be contemplated.

Claims

1.-9. (canceled)

10. A concrete safety barrier element, comprising a body having opposite end faces, at least one of the end faces being formed with a vertical guide groove for receiving a damping element, the vertical guide groove having lateral boundaries for the damping element and configured for insertion of the damping element from atop.

11. The concrete safety barrier element of claim 10 for connection to a further such concrete safety barrier element by at least one tension member configured for connecting confronting end faces of the concrete safety barrier elements.

12. The concrete safety barrier element of claim 11, wherein the vertical guide groove is arranged in a lower region of the at least one end face, with the damping element maintaining the tension member under tension.

13. The concrete safety barrier element of claim 10, wherein in a direction away from a top side, the vertical guide groove has a decreasing depth at least in sections thereof.

14. The concrete safety barrier element of claim 13, wherein the vertical guide groove has areas shaped in the form of a wedge.

15. The concrete safety barrier element of claim 10, wherein the body has a lateral insertion opening above the vertical guide groove.

16. The concrete safety barrier element of claim 10, wherein the at least one end face of the body has two laterally spaced vertical guide grooves.

17. A concrete safety barrier, comprising: a plurality of concrete safety barrier elements, each element having opposite end faces, at least one of the end faces being formed with a vertical guide groove;a tension member connecting adjacent concrete safety barrier elements to one another at confronting end faces thereof under formation of a gap; anda damping element received in the vertical guide groove through insertion from atop, the vertical guide groove having lateral boundaries for the damping element.

18. The concrete safety barrier of claim 17, wherein the damping element is a wedge-shaped element.

19. The concrete safety barrier of claim 17, wherein in a direction away from a top side, the vertical guide groove has a decreasing depth at least in sections.

20. The concrete safety barrier element of claim 19, wherein the vertical guide groove has areas shaped in the form of a wedge.

21. A method for constructing a concrete safety barrier from concrete safety barrier elements, comprising the steps of: coupling a first concrete safety barrier element to a second concrete safety barrier element at confronting end faces with at least one tension member under formation of a gap;raising the first concrete safety barrier element;placing a damping element in a lower region of the gap; andlowering the first concrete safety barrier element, thereby compressing the damping element for maintaining the tension member under tension.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the placing step includes the step of inserting the damping element into a vertical guide groove in one of the confronting end faces.