Your Guide to the Different Types of Safety Barricades

Generally, safety barricades (also known as road or traffic barricades) are used to control foot or vehicle traffic in a specified area. You’ll often see them at roadside construction sites, accident scenes, or roadblocks. They’re also common at schools, concerts, sporting events, and other venues. 

Because of the wide range of potential applications, safety barricades are available in a variety of sizes, weights, and strengths. But no matter what, the goal is to create a safe environment that eliminates (or greatly reduces) accidents or injuries. 

Every Type of Traffic Safety Barricade

By employing a combination of visual cues and physical barriers, you can signal vehicles to slow down and people to steer clear — or both. But safety barricades vary widely, depending on the application. 
 
Keep reading to find out what is the most common barrier used for each application. 

Pedestrian Barricades

Pedestrian barricades are used to control crowds. In areas where large crowds gather, like concerts or other similar events, pedestrian safety barricades are used to control traffic flow. 

Traffic Barricades

Traffic barricades are used to stop, direct, or reroute the flow of traffic. This type of safety barricade is also used to cordon off dangerous areas to keep people safe. Traffic Barricades can be separated into type I, II and III, depending on its application. To know more about traffic barricades, check out this complete guide. 

Expanding Length Barricades

Expanding and retracting barricades are a versatile choice. Whether metal or plastic, these types of barricades are ideal for creating barriers of varying lengths and odd angles. The intuitive pull levers also allow for quick and easy adjustments, from deployment to compact storage. 

You’ll often see expanding length barricades cordoning off cleaning areas, maintenance work, and sections of a factory floor or construction site.

A-frame Barricades

A-frame barricades are shaped like an architect’s workbench, framed with triangular joists and a plank with reflective tape. Due to their structure, these safety barricades work well on even ground, making them a favorite on construction sites.

Traffic Cones

Set up a light safety zone fast with traffic cones. These are standard when you want to mark potholes in the neighborhood, set up a soccer field in the park, or line a drop-off zone at the local elementary school. 

The upsides to traffic cones are portability and recognition. They are lightweight and stackable, so you can easily store them in the trunk of a car. They’re also universally recognized as helpful demarcations. 

The downside to traffic cones is that a gust of strong wind can knock them over. They can also be picked up and moved by a child with ease. But for very light crowd control, they’re the easiest—and often the best—choice. 

Traffic Barrels

Traffic barrels or traffic drums are the large, heavy-duty version of traffic cones, making them ideal for busy streets for improved visibility. 

Traffic barrels feature a rubber base that helps them stay up and in place, even during heavy winds and other inclement weather. Most traffic barrels also have a top holder where a reflective product or blinking light can be attached for better visibility in the dark.

Jersey Barriers

The Jersey barrier is either a plastic barrier or concrete barrier. It’s a heavy-duty choice used to separate lanes of traffic – and minimize damage should a vehicle make contact. 

Jersey Barriers also serve as a warning to drivers: slow down and be careful, you’re in a construction zone. 

These types of barricades are typically weighed down with sand or water once they are in the desired location. (The heavier the barrier, the better suited it is to absorb impact from a vehicle.)

Vinyl Event Fencing

Sometimes, aesthetics is just as important as crowd control itself. That’s where vinyl event fencing comes in. A vinyl event fence is how you create specific areas at an event – while potentially improving the setting at the same time. 

For example, the bar area at an outdoor wedding can be marked by white fence paneling that blends in perfectly. In fact, vinyl event fencing is especially apt for outdoor areas, as the legs swivel to fit snugly on uneven ground.

Plastic Barricades

When you need last-minute crowd control, you’ll be happy you have plastic barricades on-hand. The lightweight design makes it easy to transport and assemble on the fly. And while they’re sturdy as-is, adding sand or water can make them even more effective for perimeter security. 

Plastic safety barricades come in a variety of colors, allowing you to match your sport’s team or company logo. They also feature display areas that can be used for advertising. 

Barricade Swing Gates

Barricades interlock, which means that when you string several together, they form a long line. And it can be a messy hassle to break that line without a barricade swing gate. 

Worker gates, vehicle and machinery gates are common additions to interlocking barrier setups.

Bridge Feet Barricades

As the name suggests, bridge feet barricades have feet on both ends, making them great for events held on uneven ground. 

If you’re hosting an outdoor concert or fair, these types of safety barricades are a reliable, adaptable solution to crowd control – no matter the environment.

Flat Feet Barricades

Flat fleet barricades are just like bridge feet barricades, except they work best on flat surfaces. 

Standard flat feet safety barricades come with interlocking hooks on both ends to create a safety barrier line as long as you need it to be.

The Industry’s Best Selection of Safety Barricades

At SONCO, we manufacture and supply every product to ensure an unrivaled level of consistent quality. 

We keep our nose to the grindstone to develop the features contractors and event managers look for in crowd control and perimeter security. 

And our price-match guarantee and competitive pricing ensure you stay cost-efficient without sacrificing effectiveness. 

Give our team a call today at (888) 766-2615 for expert insights – and special deals going on right now.