Thursday, May 28, 2009

Answering A Question About Guard Rails

A week ago, we wrote a post about the new, improved bridge design created by Shelby County Government, and some of you suggested a better relationship between the bridge and the guard rails.

To follow up, we asked County Engineer Mike Oakes about the guard rails, and here's what he said:

"The guardrails are a big problem. We have to comply with regulations on them and there is little leeway. On the signature steel bridge we were able to paint the bridge and guardrails the same Forest Green color but in the case of concrete, we don’t have that option.

"We are planning to paint these a tan-brown to get some compatible earth tones going."

In addition, he said the guard rail issue is requiring extra creativity for the planned Fite Road "Zephyr" bridge. It's hard to figure out how the guard rails will tie into the front of an Art Deco locomotive, he said.

If you've got any suggestions, we know he'd appreciate it.

2 comments:

Naomi Van Tol said...

I just drove through St. Louis and noticed that one of their newer suburban bridges over I-270 has iron-fence-style guard rails, topping beams that have a repeating design (the outline of a streetcar, maybe?) stamped into the concrete.

It looked nifty.

Midtowner said...

Coloring can be added directly into the concrete. It lasts a lot longer than painting it after it dries.