Patent ID: 6835024
Filing Date: 2004-12-28
Classification: E01F

Abstract:
An inertial barrier for protecting a vehicle from a roadway hazard, comprising:a container having an outer sidewall and an interior volume, and a mating end; and a pedestal having an outer sidewall, an open end, and a mating end, the pedestal being adapted to mate with and support the container in a vertical stacking orientation to together form said inertial barrier, the open end comprising a base of said barrier, said barrier having an axial height and said pedestal having a width at least equal to the width of said barrier at any corresponding location along said axial height, the barrier at an axial location where the mating ends of each of the container and the pedestal are joined having a width smaller than the width at said barrier base; wherein a portion of the outer sidewall of the pedestal forms an inwardly tapered conic section, in order to provide increased strength in compression for the barrier in the vicinity of the respective mating ends of each of the pedestal and the container, and further wherein one of the pedestal and container mating ends include a projecting portion, and the other of the pedestal and container mating ends includes a recess portion which is complementary to said projecting portion, so that when said container and said pedestal are joined together in said vertical stacking orientation, said projecting portion is engaged into said recess portion to form an interlocking relationship between the container and the pedestal.