Mobile divider moving system on Golden Gate Bridge

Flexible lane division will partly solve the congestion situation, making transportation more smooth. The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is also implementing this solution, but the whole lane process is carried out by a unique system called "mobile divider system" a Zipper Truck.

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Currently the Golden Gate Bridge has 6 lanes with one lane in the middle to separate the traffic. The layout of the lanes on the bridge can be adjusted depending on traffic conditions, namely 4 southbound (citybound) lanes that will be opened in the morning and closed in the afternoon but remain unchanged. weekend. Previously, the lanes were divided and marked with soft plastic columns. Therefore, although the speed limit at 72km / h but the risk of drivers invading the wrong direction is still very high and the accident is often catastrophic. Since 1971, a total of 36 deaths have occurred, of which 16 have been killed by a frontal collision.

Mobile divider moving system

To resolve the name problem, Caltrans, the agency responsible for maintenance, infrastructure, highway and bridge construction in California, has used a mobile divider system built by Barrier Systems Inc. . The system consists of 3200 cubic centimeters separated by 30 x 81cm connected to form a semi-rigid separator. Each block is made of reinforced concrete, weighing about 680kg. The divider will be moved by a 30-ton Zipper Truck, 17.6m in length and traveling at 16km / h.

Underneath this car is an S-shaped groove, when the car moves to and fro in the divider, the raised concrete blocks push to the other side of the lane before being dropped when it leaves the tail. car.

Existing on the Golden Gate Bridge, the portable divider system has been deployed in various parts of North America, from Hawaii to Boston. You can view the operation of the Zipper Truck on the Golden Gate Bridge in the video below. Lane operation is done twice a day to ensure smooth traffic.