ELEVATED PAVING STRUCTURE

Abstract: The present invention provides an elevated paving system adapted to be mounted onto the surface of the road. The system is formed of a number of elevated paving blocks comprising a base adapted to be located onto the road surface and an upper surface arranged to form an elevated paving structure.

Description: ELEVATED PAVING STRUCTURE The present invention relates to elevated paving structures, particularly for temporary traffic management systems . There are many situations in the construction, repair and maintenance of roads, etc, where new or temporary raised paving or other similar structures are required either to change, control or regulate the flow of traffic or to alert road users to the presence of obstacles, roadworks, traffic management schemes, etc. Examples of such structures are, for example, speed humps, traffic islands or roundabouts and other forms of elevated paving. Commonly, the method used involves excavating a hole in the road and inserting concrete or brick blocks into the hole at a specific height to form the required configuration. The hole is then back-filled with a suitable medium and finished with a top coating of tarmac or bricks. However, elevated paving systems formed in this way have a number of associated disadvantages including the installation time and work required, problems of weakening the road surface by excavating holes, subsidence, and problems associated with removing the elevated paving and/or planing and resurfacing the roads. The present invention aims to overcome these problems by providing a modular elevated paving system adapted to be mounted onto the surface of the road. According to the present invention, there is provided an elevated paving block comprising a base adapted to be located onto a road surface and an upper surface arranged to form an elevated paving structure, in use, wherein said block is arranged to be mounted onto and fastened to the surface of a road. Although the paving block can be made of any suitable material, the block is preferably made of plastics material and may be formed with a number of cavities in the body of the block, resulting in a saving in material and producing a more lightweight unit. The block is preferably in the form of a box-type structure and may be provided with a detachable front face or kerb unit . The system of the present invention is extremely versatile and has a wide range of applications. It can be formed into a wide range of configurations, according to requirements. Furthermore, the system can be easily and inexpensively manufactured and is easy and quick to install . The system is preferably made of durable plastic which has obvious benefits over existing concrete systems in the case of accidental impact. Furthermore, plastic is relatively light, making handling and transportation easier. A further advantage of the present system is that the paving blocks can be easily removed when maintenance is required on the surface of the road or when traffic management needs to be reorganised. As no excavation is required to install the system, road weakening and subsidence are eliminated. The preferred method of manufacturing the moulded, plastic paving blocks allows various decorative finishes to be applied to or moulded into the surface and, for example, artificial grass or durable wearing surfaces can be incorporated into or onto the moulding. Many ancillary items may be attached to or passed through the elevated paving blocks by inclusion of suitable cavities or fixings in the moulding process. The elevated paving block may be coloured during or after the moulding process for particular applications, for example in car parks for disabled or family parking or the like. The blocks are preferably manufactured using compression moulding forming rectangular prisms into various configurations using recycled plastic or rubber materials . Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings . Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a modular elevated paving block according to one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the internal construction of the elevated paving block of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 is a side view of the elevated paving block of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an elevated paving block with a ramp, according to another embodiment of the invention; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an elevated paving block with an insert, according to a further embodiment of the invention; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an elevated paving block according to the present invention, showing the block fixed to the road surface; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an elevated paving block with an internal radius ; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an elevated paving block with an external radius; Fig. 9 is a perspective view of an elevated paving block with a reducing radius; Fig. 10 is a side view of an elevated paving block according to a second, preferred embodiment, with separate kerb feature; Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an elevated paving block with an internal radius, showing fixings; Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing paving blocks according to the preferred embodiment, in use, attached to the road surface; Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a modular elevated paving block according to the preferred embodiment, corresponding to that shown in a side view in Fig. 10. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, blocks 1 are formed from re-inforced plastic, by compression moulding. The blocks have a rectangular box-type construction with a lattice type re-inforcing core 2, defining hollow cavities or pockets 3 in the blocks. In the embodiments shown, the cavities have a square configuration but may, of course, take any other shape, e.g. circular, triangular, octangle, hexagonal, oval or rectangular. The blocks have an external front face 4 which may be at an angle to the vertical as desired. To make the paving block more noticeable to road users, particuarly at night, a retro-reflective band 6 may be inserted and adhered into or onto the external front face of the block. The top front edge of the block may be straight or may have a radius of varying sizes, according to the structural requirements of the system. The modular elevated paving blocks can be fixed to the road surface, in the desired configuration, by any suitable fastening means. Preferably, a metal threaded pin 8 is inserted into a cavity 9 in the blocks. Alternatively, or additionally, the blocks may be bonded to the road surface using a suitable adhesive compound. The elevated paving block is preferably manufactured by means of compression moulding. Alternatively, injection moulding or flow moulding techniques may be used. The blocks are preferably made of recycled plastics or rubber in the form of polypropylene, PVC, polyethylene, thermoplastic and/or standard rubber. A block as shown in Figs . 1 and 2 forms the standard unit and several such units, or units of different shapes and sizes, may be combined to form any desired structure. Engaging and locating means 10 may be provided as shown in Fig. 2 to allow blocks to be connected together in correct alignment . Voids or channels 11 may be provided in the lattice re-inforcing structure 2 to allow service lines, e.g. water pipes, electric cables, etc to pass through the blocks and to lie on the surface of the road, rather than these services needing to be installed below the road surface . Fig. 4 shows a different embodiment, in which the top surface of the block is angled to form a ramp 14. A decorative e.g. tiled or textured finish may be moulded into or provided on the surface of the block, if required. In addition, or alternatively, as shown in Fig. 5, the block may be arranged to receive an exchangeable insert 15, allowing, for example, artifical grass panels or other panels to be inserted into or onto the surface of the block. As shown in Figs . 7 and 8 , the block may be moulded with an internal radius or concave face 18 or with an external radius or convex face 19. A recess or cavity 20 may be formed in any or all of the blocks to allow for the inclusion of poles, masts, road signs, etc. As shown in Fig. 9, the block may be moulded with a reducing radius 21 to allow for direction changes in the process of assembling the various modular configurations . Thus, several units of various shapes, sizes, curvature, etc may be combined together in a building- block manner to form any desired structure of an elevated paving section. It can be seen that such structures can be used in a very wide range of applications including, but not limited to, traffic islands for speed control, dual carriageway central reserves, central islands at roundabouts, the creation of cycle lanes and cycle lane separation, channelization of traffic streams at junctions, pedestrian crossing refuges, bollard islands, roundabouts, traffic calming measures, kerb-side build- outs, gateways, road chicanes, offset islands, pinch points, parking bays, the creation of vehicle-free pedestrian zones, temporary traffic management schemes and all forms of delineation for traffic management. Figs. 10 to 13 show a modified, preferred embodiment of the invention having a separate kerb feature 100 and other preferred features. As shown in Fig. 10, in this embodiment, the front face of the block is formed with an over-hanging lip portion 102. A separate kerb block 100 is then provided having a front face 6 ' and having a recess portion 104 adapted to engage with the overhanging lip 102 of the main block body, as shown. An advantage of this separate kerb feature is that the main block body can be made of a darker material which may be less expensive, and the kerb part may be made of a lighter material which can be more easily seen by road users. Thus, the entire block need not be made of the possibly more expensive lighter material, thus saving on the overall manufacturing costs. Thus, the use of a separate kerb allows for colour variations in the overall structure, using standard block main bodies and attaching kerbs of the desired colour, thus reducing manufacturing costs. In this embodiment, a retro-reflective band 106 may be formed in or on the front face of the kerb 100, rather than on the block main body. Alternatively, the front surface of the kerb, or a part of the front surface may be provided with a coating of reflective paint or material . In the embodiment with the separate kerb feature, the kerb may be attached to the road surface by two fixing pins or screws 108, as shown e.g. in Fig. 13. When the block is in place, fitted over the kerb, this covers or conceals the fixing pins. In a preferred embodiment, in which the fixing pins are concealed, the kerb may be mounted to the road surface by two or more screws or the like, which will be concealed by the main block body, as discussed above and as shown in Fig. 13. The main block body may, itself, be bonded to the road surface by adhesive, rather than screws, if desired. Another feature which has been modified in the preferred embodiment is that the vertical sides 110 of the paving block are angled inwards from the top of the box to the bottom, as can be seen in Figs. 10 and 12. The advantage of this feature is that when several blocks are joined together on an uneven road surface, the slight angle of the adjoining surfaces compensates for the uneven road surface, and the adjacent blocks will abut closely together, in use.

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. An elevated paving block comprising a base adapted to be located onto a road surface and an upper surface arranged to form an elevated paving structure, in use, wherein said block is arranged to be mounted onto and fastened to the surface of a road. 2. An elevated paving block as claimed in claim 1, wherein the block is made of plastics material. 3. An elevated paving block as claimed in claim 1 or 2 having a number of cavities formed in the body of the block. 4. An elevated paving block as claimed in any preceding claim, said block being in the form of a box- type structure. 5. An elevated paving block as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein said block is provided with a detachable front face providing a kerb unit . 6. An elevated paving block as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a replaceable top surface insert .

Inventors: HOPE JEFFREY ERNEST, HOPE, JEFFREY, ERNEST
Applicants: HOPE JEFFREY ERNEST, HOPE, JEFFREY, ERNEST
Application year: 1998
Main classification: E01F1
IPC codes: E01C11, E01F1, E01F9, E01F11