King Highway | The Blade Cuts it in Kent

Last week saw the debut of the new King Highway MASH tested Blade Crash Cushion along with the latest DfT approved Red X Light Board, at the Area 4 A-one+ Supply Chain Conference, which was well received by all who visited the event.

Six new vehicles with the unique Blade Crash Cushion are being supplied on a long term rental contract from Safety Vehicle Hire and Lease, the specialist rental arm of King Highway Products, to A-one+ for their Area 4 contract.

King Highway are the UK distributor of Verdegro products, including the new Blade, which is the first crash cushion to be tested to US MASH crash testing standards – the most demanding in the world.

Operatives carrying out repair and maintenance on the roads of Highways England’s Area 4 in Kent will be protected by the unique new crash cushion designed to absorb impacts including from heavier, larger vehicles with increased bumper heights.

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The vehicle’s will also be using a new ‘Red X’ Light Arrow board, also manufactured by Verdegro and distributed by King Highway Products, designed to meet the latest requirements in IAN 187/15 for the use of Convoy Control Vehicles.

Both the Blade and the Red X have recently been approved for use on the UK road network by Highways England and the Department for Transport.

The Blade Crash Cushion measures 6m long by 2.4m wide and is named after the way in which the patented invention works. According to Verdegro, the unit’s strength comes from a composite aluminium welded profile. The unit has 12 internal ‘blades’ and during an impact four blades cut through the aluminium composite H-beams, with another 8 cutting through welded tubes, absorbing the impact. The remaining weak aluminium parts bend away safely.

James Richmond, Director of King Highway Products said:
“King Highways new MASH tested Verdegro Blade Crash Cushion and DfT approved Red X Light Arrow are both unique in their operation and the most up to date innovative products currently offered to the UK Traffic Management market. These new products further enhance the range of Crash Cushions and Light Arrows we currently sell, and teamed with our in house rental and leasing business, Safety Vehicle Hire and Lease, we have been able to provide a market leading solution to the requirements of A-one+, with whom we are looking forward to working closely with over the coming years”.

Transport Manager for A-one+, Gavin Crittenden, says “safety of our operatives is our top priority, but we are also finding that self-delivering on traffic management and operative protection is more cost efficient. We went looking for a new impact cushion because cars and lorries have got bigger and we need tougher protection for our staff working in front of our impact protection vehicles repairing the roads, litter picking or clearing up after accidents.

King Highway Products and Safety Vehicles were chosen because they could offer us a one stop shop by designing and building the safest and most up to date IPV currently on the market, and then supplying them on a tailor made rental package which mirrored the term of our contract with Highways England.“

A-one+ takes delivery of their first two new IPV’s, fitted with the Blade and the Red X, at the end of July with another four by the end of August.

For further information on the Blade Crash Cushion and Red X Light Arrow please contact 01858 43 43 06 or email info@kinghighway.co.uk