Types of Guardrails - A Buying Guide

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Guardrails are used for safety and barrier purposes and are an integral part of various industrial structures. These assemblies are typically installed at platform ends and are incorporated within mezzanine structures in industrial sites, such as warehouses. They are used on highways as a protection barrier against vehicle impact, to prevent falls, and in production areas. Standard guardrail fabrication materials include variations of Stainless Steel, a material recommended because of its durability. Wooden guardrails are another common barrier material. There are numerous variations of standard guardrails, which must comply with OSHA standards. Both single and double railing systems are a standard guardrail installation option.

Guardrail Types and Styles

The most common types of guardrails include:

W-beam

Curved

Bolt-on

Drop-in

Video on the Types of Guardrails

W-beams

W-beams are the standard traffic and highway safety rails and are constructed in high gauge steel. To protect against environmental conditions, this type of beam is fabricated with zinc coatings and weather (resistant) coated materials.

Curved

Curved guardrails feature a convex or concave-shaped rail and are used to provide protection on roadways and highways that have a bend radius to them. These units are usually prefabricated to fit the required dimensions of the site where they will be installed. Concave rails are those in which the rail curves in towards the vehicle, while convex rails are those that curve away from the vehicle.

Drop-in rails

Drop-in rails feature brackets that allow post sections to slide into the structure upon installation. This type of railing is easily accessible. 

Bolt-on rails

Bolt-on rails involve specific installation with hand tools and drills, though the hardware for this type of railing is typically included by the manufacturer. Single, double, or triple rails may be selected for an application.

Standard Guardrail Applications

Pedestrian walkway protection  

Workstation and transformer area barrier

Protect equipment from forklift damages

Protect building from damage (ie, walls and doors)

Installed along roadways to prevent and minimize accidents

Guardrail Components

A standard guardrail system is mounted to the floor by base plates, which are fastened with anchor bolts. Each guardrail system also includes columns that are commonly fabricated from steel. Such columns, or posts, are often pre-drilled by the manufacturer and include the hardware for installation. Standard galvanized steel systems (specifically 12-gauge) provide durability and are often fabricated in curved, 90-degree variations, for traffic areas. Other variations include cylindrical steel beams and flatter beams, featuring ribbing. For indoor and outdoor areas, railings are typically painted OSHA yellow. The type and amount of beam railing vary according to the application requirements. For instance, the railing can consist of one to three beams and the beams may be coated with UV resistant polyurethane sleeves.

Box Beam Guardrail- Best Choice for Beautiful Surroundings

Box beam guardrail, a kind of highway barrier, is not as common as traditional w beam or thrie beam guardrails, but it caters the need of appreciation of the beauty and is widely used not only on highways, but also in parks, picturesque bridges, etc.

The same as W-beam guardrails, it is made of high quality steel and plated with superior zinc coating or coated with PVC coating. Thereby, it is anti-rust and durable enough to endure the impact force. Additionally, there is no need of paying much money on the maintenance of the box beam guardrail, which makes it cost effectively in the long run.

Box beam guardrails can be used on bridges.

Advantages:

Anti-rust

Corrosion-resistant

Durable and well-constructed

Designed to have a long service life

Can be used with or without blocks

Easy to install and repair

No need of maintenance

The box beam guardrails we supply:

According to the shape of the box beam guardrail, we can divide them into two types: square and rectangular. Meanwhile, we can also provide open box beam guardrail depends on your requirements.

Square box beam guardrails

Rectangular box beam guardrails

W Beam Guard Rails for Highway Collision Safety

W Metal Beam Guard Rails for Highway and Bridges

w-beam guardrail has a section or profile of W shape, it is also named as two wave beam guardrail. This is the major type of beam barriers for highways safety with symmetrical designs on each side of the beam. We supply two kinds of finishes for w beam guardrail panels: hot dipped zinc coating or plastic coating. According to the fabricated shapes, our W-beam guardrails can be divided into two types: the straight line w-beam,or the curved beams.

How to choose straight W beam or Curved Beam used for your uses?
The straight W-beam guardrail can be lined up for transitioning smoothly and is suitable to the curves with a radius greater than 45m. For the radius less than 45m, the pre-curved W-beam guardrail product exploits its advantages to a full.

W beam guard railings can be used in expressway and highways to absorb maximum energy of the impact force when collision occures and reduce harms to cars and people. It can also protect the vehicles against skidding off roads, especially mountain roads and bridges and prevent the pedestrians from the danger of walking across highways.

General Technical Information of W Beam / Two Wave Guardrail Barriers:

Base Metal Material: steel: Q235 (S235JR / ASTM A283M) or Q345 (S355JR / ASTM A529M )

Standard specification: 380*85*2.75/3/4*/mm or 306*80*2.75/3/4*mm

Surface finishing: Hot dipped galvanized finish or powder coated.

Zinc coating thickness (double sides): 550 g/m2 (40µ) / g/m2 (80µ) / g/m2 (85µ)

Relevant parts required for guard rails: post, spacer (C, U and Sigma types etc) and fasteners

Profile: W-beam / two wave.

Plate Thickness:2.5mm-4mm

Thickness Tolerance: +/-0.015mm

Popular Specification of W Beam Guardrails:
Wave width: 310mm
Wave height: 85mm
Plate thickness: 2.5mm - 4mm
Beam length: mm

Scise Most Popular W Beam Guardrail System ( beams and necessories parts for installing ) for Export is composed as following:

Guardrail W-Beam Galvanized including bolts, nuts and washers;
Guardrail Steel Post, Box Beam;
Guardrail End Units;
Guardrail Terminal Units;
Hot Dipped Galvanized Steel Guardrail W Beam;
Hot dipped galvanized terminal section;
Hot dipped galvanized round steel post;
Hot dipped galvanized post cap;
Hot dipped galvanized black spacer;
Hot dipped galvanized flat plate washer;
Hot dipped galvanized bolts.

Packing 1.)25 pieces metal beam road guardrails per bundle, and then fasten the bundle with wire straps or hemp ropes.
2.)One 20 feet GP will hold about 510 pieces.
3.) Customers' requirements are available, too

Popular Specifications:

Want more information on guardrail spacer? Feel free to contact us.

Normal W Beam Specification ×310 × 85 × 2.5(2.67/2.7/3.0 )   × 310 × 85 × 2.5(2.67/2.7/3.0)   × 310 × 85 × 2.5(2.67/2.7/3.0) Profile A Specification × 306 × 80 × 2.5(2.67/2.7/3.0) Profile B Specification × 310 × 75 × 2.5(2.67/2.7/3.0) Zinc Coating 550g/m²(40u)   g/ m² (80u) g/ m² (85u)   Standard   JT/T 281- AASHTO-M180   RAL RG620

Wave Size Applied to W Beam Guardrails:

W-beam Length -mm Wave width 300-600mm Wave height 50-100mm Thickness 2-6mm Notes: Custom length, width, height and thickness are available as your requirements.

Curved W Wave Guardrail Radius Details:

Radius (Feet) H/ Rise (Inches) Radius (Feet) H/ Rise (Inches) 5 (1.5m) 41 55 (16.8m) 4 1/4 6 (1.8m) 36 60 (18.3m) 4 8 (2.4m) 28 65 (19.8m) 3 5/8 9 (2.7m) 26 70 (21.3m) 3 3/8 10 (3.1m) 22 75 (22.9m) 3 1/4 12 (3.7m) 20 80 (24.4m) 3 13 (4m) 18 85 (25.9m) 2 3/4 15 (4.6m) 16 90 (27.4m) 2 5/8 16 (4.9m) 14 95 (29m) 2 1/2 20 (6.1m) 11 5/8 100 (30.5m) 2 3/8 25 (7.6m) 9 1/2 110 (33.5m) 2 1/8 30 (9.1m) 7 3/4 120 (36.6m) 2 35 (10.7m) 6 3/4 130 (39.6m) 1 3/4 40 (12.2m) 6 140 (42.7m) 1 5/8 45 (13.7m) 5 1/4 150 (45.7m) 4 1/2 50 (15.2m) 4 5/8    

W Beam & Pedestrian Barrier Project in Australia

Post and rail barrier for office block area and other sites.

Guardrail Fence:

Optional: W beam guard rail system 900 mm high
These system are going on a concrete floor.
The posts have base plates.
Delivery to Melbourne port.

12 Gauge W Beam Highway Guard Rails

We supply w wave corrugated metal beam 12 GAUGE(2.7P MIN.) for high way guard rails & bridge rails, AASHTO M 180 standard specifications and other international qualities. The system contains W-beam rail element, backup plates, and terminal sections, the 12 gage steel formed into a beam minimum 12 inches ( 300 mm) wide and 3 inches (75 mm) deep. The 6 inch channel rail and splice plate are manufactured in conformance with AASHTO M 183. AASHTO is simplified term of American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Quality meeting Division 12 -- for metal beam guard rail of Kuwait and other other international qualities are also supplied.

Physical properties of the materials is as follows:

Tensile Strength: 483 MPa (min)
Yield Strength 345 MPa (min)
Elongation 12% (min).
Guard rails is supplied with Mill Test certificates of the materials.

12 Gauge Beam Guardrails: Elements and Parts

Steel Quality as per Grade Fe 410 or equivalent for W Beam.
Hot Dip Galvanizing as per AASHTO M180, 550 gm/m2.
Metal beam corrugating type: W beam

Details as below attached for reference:

1. Guard rails straight-3.0mm C/C class 'A' type

Material quality: AASHTO
3 mm thick Guard rails, W beam, in black finish.
Also Bridge Railing post only in aluminium mill finish.

2. Guard rail reflector
Quality: AASHTO

3. Railing Post, M16 x 32 bolt, Nut & Washer

Bulk Head
Finish: Galvanized
Quality: AASHTO

Guard Rails with Steel Post Blocks

GUARD RAIL TERMINATION DETAILS

4. M16 x 45 mm,Bolt, Nut & Washer

Bulk head
Finish: Galvanized
Material quality: AASHTO

Since W Beam Crash Barrier,Thrie Beam Guardrail,Galvanized Crush Barriers,Mental Beam Crush Barriers establishment, the company has always adhered to the"terminal demand as the root, Customer satisfaction first" business philosophy, attaches great importance to product quality.

Fall Protection - Guardrails

On this page

• What are guardrails?
• Are guardrails and handrails the same thing?
• When do you use guardrails?
• What are the main types of guardrails?
• What is meant by load specifications?
• What else should be considered when installing guardrails?
• What should be done if you need to remove the whole or part of a guardrail?

What are guardrails?

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Guardrails are a stationary (or "fixed") system used to protect workers from falls when working at heights. Guardrails are a preferred means of protecting workers because the system does not rely on the worker to be trained to use, inspect, and wear a fall protection system.

Well built guardrails are a reliable and convenient means of fall protection because they act as a visible and physical barrier to help prevent falls from heights or between levels including falls from roofs, balconies, stairwells or falls into open holes. Guardrails are used where covers, floors or walls cannot be installed or are not practical.

Guardrails are used in every industry and can be seen in:

• retail shops
• industrial settings
• construction sites
• warehouses
• shipping facilities
• landscaping and work areas in natural settings, and
• any workplace with an accessible rooftop.

Are guardrails and handrails the same thing?

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While guardrails often also have handrails, they are not the same thing. Handrails serve as a handhold people use to support themselves while using up or down stairs, ramps, or crossing flat surfaces. Guardrails are designed to prevent falls over an unprotected edge or into an opening.

When do you use guardrails?

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Install a guardrail if the fall hazard or working at heights cannot be eliminated. Guardrails should be used when a worker could have access to the unprotected edge of any of the following work surfaces and is exposed to a fall from a height or between levels. If an employee can fall into or onto dangerous equipment such as a conveyor belt, it is also good practice to prevent such falls by installing guardrails and toe boards. Make sure the guardrail is installed around the edge or opening before work begins.

Installing a guardrail is good practice:

• around a balcony or mezzanine
• at the edges of catwalks or overhead conveyor platforms
• along the bridges
• around scaffolds, raised platforms, or open platforms on aerial devices
• at the edges of roofs where work may be performed
• along the open edges of elevated working areas such as the upper floors of building under construction or being repaired
• around work elevated work surfaces including platforms, scaffolds, runways, or ramps
• around openings in floors, roofs, and in working surfaces where the openings are not covered or protected
• open edges of slab formwork for floors and roofs
• any where workers could fall into water, operating machinery, or hazardous substances.

In most jurisdictions, use of a guardrail is specified for certain circumstances. Always check with your jurisdiction for exact requirements.

What are the main types of guardrails?

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There are two main types of guardrails - job built guardrails and manufactured guardrail systems. While job built guardrails are typically made of wood, manufactured guardrail systems are available in a variety of materials and may have parts made of mesh, netting or fencing. Guardrails typically feature a top rail, mid-rail, toe boards with evenly spaced vertical posts.

Regardless of type, make sure all guardrails used meet the regulatory requirements and are built according to requirements (e.g., height and spacing requirements of guardrail components and/or are installed according to the manufacturer's instructions.

To prevent people from falling, guardrails must:

• be high enough to prevent a person from falling over the top of them.
• be strong enough to withstand the force of the number of people likely to lean or push up against them. Consider also possible impacts from tools and other materials used nearby.
• have evenly spaced posts that areclose enough together to prevent people from falling through the gaps. If using a manufactured guardrail system that does not use vertical posts, it must provide equal protection against similar gaps.
• be installed as close to the open edge as is reasonable.
• extend along the whole length of the opening or unprotected edge.
• be made of materials with smooth surfaces that are not abrasive and will not cut skin or snag clothing. Common materials used are wood and metal.

What is meant by load specifications?

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Regulations often require a load specification. This requirement refers to the amount of force that guardrails may be expected to support, and is measured in newtons (N) or pounds (lbs).

The force requirements will depend on the application of the guardrail and the legislative requirements in your jurisdiction.

The CSA Standard Z797-18 Code of practice for access scaffold also provides minimum load bearing and height requirements for guardrails and toe boards.

What else should be considered when installing guardrails?

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Make sure workers in the area near the unguarded edge are protected from falls by other means (travel restraint, fall arrest, netting, etc.) until the guardrail is completely installed.

When building guardrails on the job,

• Consider how long the guardrail will be required (and factor in the local weather and other environment conditions).
• If building the guardrail from wood, only use lumber that is construction grade quality or better. Some jurisdictions require the lumber used be spruce, pine or fir (S-P-F) timber.
• Inspect the lumber for damage or rot. Lumber should have no visible defects that could affect its loadbearing capacity.
• Choose the appropriate fasteners for the materials being used. Make sure all nails and other fasteners used are strong enough to withstand the forces applied to them.
• Make sure the wooden surface is smooth and that the finished guardrail does not have protruding nails, screws, or rough edges.
• Do not reuse old construction materials.

Other items to consider include:

• The number of people in a work area
• The size of the work area
• The weight and type of tools or materials being used in the area
• Whether the guardrails are to be a permanent or temporary solution

What should be done if you need to remove the whole or part of a guardrail?

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It may be necessary to remove guardrails or sections of a guardrail in a working area, such as unloading materials at a site above ground level. Follow good practice to ensure there are not falls through an unprotected opening. Improper removal of the guardrails can leave protruding edges or parts, like nails, that may injure workers, so use the right tools and follow all established construction procedures.

Before removing a guardrail:

• Identify the work area that will be affected by the removal of the guardrail. Mark an area large enough to keep unprotected employees away from the fall hazard. For example, in Ontario it is recommended that this distance be "at least 2 metres (6 feet, 6 inches) from either side of the opening and at least 2 metres back from the open edge of the work surface".
• Clear that area so it is free from slip or trip hazards such as ice and debris.
• Mark it off as a fall hazard area with caution tape or a warning barrier.
• Alert all those working nearby that a guardrail is being removed. Post warning signs outside the roped off area alerting anyone of the danger from the unprotected fall hazard.
• Set up travel restraint or fall arrest systems for everyone working in the fall hazard area after the guardrail is removed.

After the guardrail is removed, everyone working inside the marked off area must use a travel restraint or fall arrest system at all times.

When reinstalling or rebuilding a guardrail, make sure it is installed as intended according to the manufacturer's instructions or its original design. Store the removed guardrails or sections in a place where they cannot fall on someone or become a trip hazard.

• Fact sheet first published: -11-07
• Fact sheet confirmed current: -01-10
• Fact sheet last revised: -11-07

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