Guardrail washer?

[fredtoast]

On the way to work today I saw a water truck driving along the side of the road with a huge nozzle spraying the guardrail. Looked like it was designed specifically to wash off the guardrail. I though it might be some sort of weed killer they were trying to spray on the right-of-way, but it looked like high volume of water instead of a fine spray like you usually see with chemical sprayers. Also it would have been very poorly designed as a weed sprayer because it was spraying most of it directly at guardrail level.

Never seen anything like that before, and I don't know why it would be necessary to wash guardrails.

How about you guys?

[*rfaulk34*]

(05-09-2017, 01:39 PM)fredtoast Wrote: On the way to work today I saw a water truck driving along the side of the road with a huge nozzle spraying the guardrail.  Looked like it was designed specifically to wash off the guardrail.  I though it might be some sort of weed killer they were trying to spray on the right-of-way, but it looked like high volume of water instead of a fine spray like you usually see with chemical sprayers.  Also it would have been very poorly designed as a weed sprayer because it was spraying most of it directly at guardrail level.

Never seen anything like that before, and I don't know why it would be necessary to wash guardrails.

How about you guys?

Dirty guardrails might be difficult to see at night if you need to pull over and change a tire. 

[Benton]

someone's nephew in state legislature probably owns a new power washing business.

outside of that, no idea.

could be spraying off salt build up to cut down on erosion/

ok, i guess i had one other idea...

[SunsetBengal]

(05-09-2017, 03:19 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Dirty guardrails might be difficult to see at night if you need to pull over and change a tire. 

Pretty much this ^

Buildup of silt/dirt/sediment from road spray during rain, and winter time driving inhibits the driver's ability to notice the reflective panels on safety structures, as well as the shine on the galvanized portion of the structure itself. 

Yes, washing guard rails is a thing.  Likely wasn't a thing, until someone claimed that they couldn't see one that they ran into, in a court case..


Edit: Personally, I feel like this would be great community service work for prisoners, along with having them clear clogged storm drainage structures. I mean, if we're going to make them work, might as well give them a foothold on some real world applications..

[Vas Deferens]

(05-09-2017, 08:08 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Pretty much this ^

Buildup of silt/dirt/sediment from road spray during rain, and winter time driving inhibits the driver's ability to notice the reflective panels on safety structures, as well as the shine on the galvanized portion of the structure itself. 

Yes, washing guard rails is a thing.  Likely wasn't a thing, until someone claimed that they couldn't see one that they ran into, in a court case..


Edit: Personally, I feel like this would be great community service work for prisoners, along with having them clear clogged storm drainage structures. I mean, if we're going to make them work, might as well give them a foothold on some real world applications..

Agree. Also, cleaning the guardrails probably increases their serviceable lifetime. Those things can be extremely dangerous if hit at the wrong angle. Even more so if they lock up rather than crumple as intended.

And in terms of making the incarcerated work, would be great to see said work go towards projects that benefit the taxpayers footing the bill rather than private corporations making who knows what trinkets or running call centers.

[SunsetBengal]

(05-09-2017, 08:27 PM)Vas Deferens Wrote: Agree.  Also, cleaning the guardrails probably increases their serviceable lifetime.   Those things can be extremely dangerous if hit at the wrong angle.   Even more so if they lock up rather than crumple as intended.

And in terms of making the incarcerated work, would be great to see said work go towards projects that benefit the taxpayers footing the bill rather than private corporations making who knows what trinkets or running call centers.

I've put a bit of thought into that.  I work in the Surveying department of an Engineering firm that is a preferred consultant to the NC DOT, in all facets, design, construction supervision, existing structure inspection, and Surveying.  As a Nation, we spend untold billions on design of hydro control structures.  These structures used to control water flow, keeping roads and neighborhoods from flooding in extreme precipitation, as well as to mitigate erosion to the existing terrain. 

These very expensive structures are more times than not, blocked with debris.  This condition renders them ineffective and useless.  As a Surveyor, we are often called upon to get vertical datum on these structures, to be used in coordination with improvements upcoming.  When these structures are so loaded with debris that we can't easily get to the bottom, we have to call someone to clean them out.  On a highway, that would be the DOT, in a municipality, they send out their own crew.  They always have better things to be spending their manpower on. 

So, we have an incredibly designed drainage system, that cost a fortune to design and install, yet maintenance is expensive.

So, rather than just having inmates mundanely picking up trash along the highway, why not have them do something of a greater benefit to all of society?

*Sorry fredtoast, wasn't trying to derail your thread, it was just a natural progression.