Road Barriers
HERMEQ supplies road barriers for traffic control and pedestrian safety across construction zones, roadworks and temporary event sites. The range covers Chapter 8 plastic barriers, self-weighted units that need no filling, water filled barriers, crash tested systems and steel road barriers. Chapter 8 barriers remain the most used format on UK street works, with reflective panels and interlocking runs that guide traffic and protect footpaths beside active work areas. They are stocked in blue, green, yellow, white and orange, moulded from materials that hold their colour and shape through repeated deployment. Stock items are manufactured in the UK and available for next day delivery nationwide.
Which road barriers do you need?
The range splits by how a barrier gains its stability and by what it is expected to hold back.
Chapter 8 plastic barriers
These are moulded plastic panels with reflective red and white markings that link into a continuous run, and they are the standard format for temporary works on and beside the highway. Choose them where the barrier marks a hazard, separates the public from a working area and gives a clear visual line. The core Chapter 8 road barriers are stocked in several colours with a choice of feet. Where a small working area has to be enclosed, the Olympic Chapter 8 barrier folds its side wings to form corners and access openings, and the European traffic barrier links wider panels so a long run needs fewer joints.
Water filled barriers
Shipped empty and filled on site, these units are light to position and heavy once in place. They suit exposed sites, longer deployments and any line that has to stay put without being pegged or weighted separately. The water filled barriers run from low separators to full height highway units, and the anti-trip water filled separator is the one to pick where a barrier sits on a footway and pedestrians pass close to its base.
Self-weighted barriers
Self-weighted barriers carry their mass in the moulding, so crews can deploy them without water, sand or loose ballast. They are the practical choice for short duration works, mobile gangs and sites where filling and draining is awkward. The WonderWall heavy duty traffic barrier takes signs and lamps as part of the system, the Road Runner 500 self-weighted barrier gives a low profile line for lane and footway works, and the Oaklog self-weighted barrier holds a semi-permanent zoning line in a single piece.
Utility and plank barrier systems
Panel and plank systems are built up on site from separate parts, which lets a crew wrap an opening exactly rather than fit a straight run around it. The plastic utility barrier suits telecom chambers, fibre works and small street repairs where a compact enclosure is needed in minutes. The heavy duty plank barrier system combines posts, bases and planks for longer or heavier street works, and damaged parts are replaced individually.
Crash tested and steel barriers
Where traffic can reach the barrier line, the job moves from marking a hazard to containing a vehicle, and the barrier has to be tested for impact. The Bull Barrier steel road barrier uses a curved steel profile to deflect an errant vehicle back towards the carriageway and is light enough for a two person installation. For motorway interventions and urban schemes that need a tested concrete line, the SVEA temporary concrete crash barrier is certified to EN 1317 and connects without anchoring.
Track and event barriers
Low level fillable barriers give a shaped, impact resistant edge for circuits, karting, pit lanes and indoor events, and they replace tyre walls or timber with a uniform line. The track barriers interlock at angles to form curves and S-shapes, and they are filled with water or sand according to how much mass the layout needs.
Delineation or containment: how much barrier does the job need?
Most plastic barriers are there to be seen, not to be hit. Chapter 8 panels, pedestrian barriers and utility enclosures mark a hazard, guide people past it and keep the public out of the working area; their listings state that they are not for vehicle impact protection or crash containment. That is the correct specification for footway works, verge works and sites behind a cone taper on a closed or low speed section.
When a live running lane sits next to the works, when traffic speeds are high, or when the line stands for weeks on an infrastructure scheme, the barrier has to be a tested restraint system. The RB22 crash tested water filled barrier is certified to 50mph impact and fills to form a continuous run with steel pin joints. Traffic speed, the distance between the barrier and the running lane, and the duration of the works decide which side of that line a scheme falls on.
Wind class and ballast
Temporary barriers are rated by the wind speed they stay upright in, with Class A the highest, Class B in the middle and Class C the lowest. An unballasted plastic barrier sits at the lower end of that scale, which is enough for a short dig on a sheltered street but not for an exposed junction, a coastal site or a run left standing over a weekend.
Adding defined weight raises the class. Two road barrier stabilisers per barrier, or one in a boxed configuration, brings a HERMEQ road barrier to Class B, which is 17.6m/s. Fixed units of that kind give the same weight every time, unlike sandbags, which lose mass as they split and are rarely loaded consistently along a run. Self-weighted and water filled barriers reach their class without anything added, which is why they are specified where there is no space or time to place separate ballast.
Where road barriers are used
Street works and roadworks
Work on or beside the carriageway needs a reflective line that drivers read from a distance and that a gang can move as the dig progresses. Chapter 8 and self-weighted barriers cover most of this work, lit at night and kept clear of the kerb edge so pedestrians are not pushed into the road. The barrier line follows the advance warning given by road signs and the approach taper set out with traffic cones.
Footways and pedestrian routes
On a footway the barrier has to form an unbroken line that can be followed by touch, with no gaps at the joints and nothing projecting into the walking surface. A continuous bottom rail and a narrow foot matter more here than mass. The plastic pedestrian safety barrier is the lightweight option for teams that set out and collect walkway routes daily.
Excavations, manholes and compounds
An open chamber or trench needs full enclosure rather than a frontage, with corners closed and the barrier set back from the edge so the ground under it is undisturbed. Panel and plank systems close tightly around awkward shapes, and lamps go on the corners for night cover.
Events, public spaces and tracks
Car parks, retail frontages and public realm works call for a line that reads as organised rather than industrial, which is where the softer barrier colours are used. Event vehicle routes and circuit edges take fillable barriers, since the mass is added on site and removed before the barriers are stacked for the next job.
How to choose a road barrier
Connection system and cornering
The joint decides how a run behaves. Hook-and-eye and peg-and-loop links on plastic barriers connect without tools and allow enough movement to follow a camber, while the fishtail hook-and-pin link on the Avalon Chapter 8 barrier holds alignment over long straights. Separators and heavy water filled units quote a maximum cornering angle, and that figure determines how tight an enclosure or a pedestrian chicane can be formed before angle sections are needed.
Standard or anti-trip feet
Standard swivel feet project further each side of the panel and give a wider stance for open sites and verges. Anti-trip feet are shorter, so less of the foot sits in the walking line on a footway, shared surface or shop frontage. Specify anti-trip where pedestrians pass within a step of the barrier, and standard feet where the run stands in a closed working area.
Colour and branding
Red and white, and orange, carry the highest visibility on and beside the carriageway. Blue, green, white and yellow are chosen for parks, retail sites, heritage settings and campuses where a softer line is wanted without losing compliance. Branded road barriers carry a central plate for a company logo or a courtesy message.
Storage, stacking and transport
Swivel feet rotate flat so barriers nest on a pallet, and self-weighted and water filled units have forklift access in the base. Pallet and stillage quantities set how many barriers fit on a load, the figure that matters when stock moves between depots.
UK manufacturing and stock
HERMEQ manufactures in the UK with in-house steel processing, and steel items such as barrier stillages and gates are powder coated in-house. Plastic barriers, water filled units and accessories are held as permanent UK stock, so repeat orders match the barriers already in the yard. Stock items are available for next day delivery nationwide and can be bought online, alongside the rest of the traffic management equipment range.
Road barrier accessories
Ballast and stabilisers
Defined weights hold a barrier run in place without filling it. The road barrier stabilisers interlock and stack for transport, and the plastic coated ballast blocks add weight to barriers, pedestrian barriers and gates with a hand grip for manual placing.
Barrier lamps
Lit barriers are required wherever a run stands overnight or in poor light. The Chapter 8 barrier lamps switch on automatically as light levels fall and clip to compatible plastic barriers without stopping them stacking.
Replacement feet
Feet take the wear in a barrier fleet, from kerb strikes, forklift tines and repeated stacking. Fitting replacement barrier feet in standard or anti-trip form returns a sound panel to service instead of scrapping the barrier, and it lets a depot convert existing stock for footway work.
Mesh fence extensions and gates
Where a barrier line has to become a perimeter, galvanised mesh fence extensions slot into compatible water filled barriers to raise the height and deter climbing. The RB22 pedestrian gate builds a defined walk-through point into a crash tested run.
Stillages
Barriers travel and store better in a frame than loose on a pallet. The steel road barrier stillages come in 20, 30 and 40 barrier capacities with twin forklift bars, and they stack two high in the yard.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why are they called Chapter 8 barriers?
They take their name from Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual, the Department for Transport guidance covering the signing, lighting and guarding of street works and road works. Barriers made to the visibility, reflectivity and construction requirements set out there are described in the trade as Chapter 8 barriers. The relevant product standards referenced alongside it are BS 8442 and BS EN 12899-1.
What size are Chapter 8 road barriers?
The common format across the range is two metres wide and about one metre high, which gives a full panel face and a manageable weight for one person to carry and link. Narrower widths around 1.25 metres are used where a footway is tight or a run has to turn frequently. Panel depth is slim so barriers nest closely when the feet are rotated for stacking.
Are road barriers a legal requirement?
Chapter 8 is guidance rather than legislation, but works on the highway are carried out under the Safety at Street Works and Road Works Code of Practice, which sets out how a site is signed, lit and guarded. Duties under health and safety law also apply to anyone creating a hazard the public can reach. Using barriers that meet the recognised standards is how most contractors demonstrate they have met those duties.
Can road barriers be used on uneven ground?
Yes. Hook-and-eye and peg connections allow a small amount of movement at each joint, so a run can follow a camber, a slope or a kerb line without the panels fighting each other. On very uneven ground it is better to step the run in short sections than to force a long straight. Where the ground is soft or the surface is loose, add ballast at each barrier rather than relying on the feet alone.
Can barriers be ordered in a colour other than red and white?
Yes. Chapter 8 plastic barriers are stocked in orange, blue, green, yellow and white, each with the standard reflective markings. Water filled and self-weighted units are supplied in all red, all white or a 50/50 red and white split. Barriers with a central branding plate carry a printed logo or message and are produced against a minimum order quantity.