“Road Zipper”

Today we *tried* to visit Muir Woods, but there was no parking within a mile and a half of the entrance, so we bailed on that and began to make our way back to San Francisco for our morning flight home tomorrow. A non-stop flight to St. Louis — way to go, Clare!

We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and while we stopped to figure out how to pay the toll with a rental car, the Road Zipper Machine went by preparing for the Monday afternoon traffic pattern. We saw this Friday when we walked the Bridge and this is truly amazing!

Here the truck is southbound. When it gets on the Bridge, it will [literally] pick up the concrete-filled, steel median barriers and move them, converting 3 lanes of traffic in each direction into 4 lanes north (out of the city) and 2 lanes south.

Similar systems have been installed on bridges, in tunnels and on roadways around the world, so many of you have probably seen this technology in action. If you haven't, check out the video here, http://www.barriersystemsinc.com/a-safer-golden-gate-bridge-1

From Lindsay Corporation, http://www.barriersystemsinc.com/a-safer-golden-gate-bridge-1 » “One of the world’s most photographed — and busiest — bridges is moving traffic faster and more safely than ever before.

“In early 2015, The Road Zipper System® was installed on San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge. This system consists of moveable [sic] barriers and a Road Zipper machine, replacing plastic tubes that previously separated outbound and inbound traffic which were unable to prevent crossover crashes in the event a driver lost vehicle control.

“Previously the bridge carried three lanes of traffic in either direction. The use of the new machine means that the bridge retains six lanes in all, but can be reconfigured to feature up to four lanes in one direction and two lanes in the other, to better cope with daily commuter traffic needs — now and in the future.

“Lindsay Transportation Solutions partnered with the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District to engineer this streamlined version of the Road Zipper machine, which was custom-made in Rio Vista, California and Lindsay, Nebraska to fit the Golden Gate Bridge’s narrow lanes.”

Check out
• the video at the link above
• "How It Works," http://www.barriersystemsinc.com/how-it-works
• the brochure with more images and installation locations, http://www.barriersystemsinc.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/e740bd06f80d79d9ee310188b2ce551e/pdf/lindsay_road_zipper_brochure.pdf

1 year ago (“‘Home’ for the next several days”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2015-07-25
2 years ago (“Sculling toward sunrise (1:29 video)” ): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2014-07-25
3 years ago (“Only 14 frames kept today…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-07-25
4 years ago (“Well, we can tell male from female in *this* pair…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-07-25
5 years ago (“During II”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-07-25

[ DSCN1385S12x8Atm :: P&S ]

[Joanna kate]

What a neat name and machine

[Elizma Fourie]

We need some of these here in South Africa