Metal Construction Barrels

[Brian556]

I remember seeing 55 gallon oil drums being used as construction barrels. Do y'all remember when these went away? Was the change to plastic at different times in different states?

[Truvelo]

I wonder why they moved from metal to plastic? Because plastic does less damage when they get hit. I can imagine the lawsuit that would follow if a driver who was texting on his cellphone plowed into a metal drum resulting in serious injury.

Of course, there would now be another reason for replacing metal with plastic - metal theft. 2am in the morning and some moron would drive around in a large van stopping at construction zones loading the metal drums into his vehicle then weighing them in for cash the next day

[thenetwork]

Not only that, but the plastic barrels can be "stacked" inside each-other, which means on a DOT flatbed, when you were lucky to fit only a couple dozen metal drums, you could now fit 50-100+ plastic barrels.

I also remember the use of the "smudge"(??) pots in construction zones that looked exactly like the little round bombs you'd see in the cartoons -- or in the game of Stratego.

[PAHighways]

I remember metal barrels with orange and white striped panels attached to them being used during the Penn-Lincoln Parkway reconstruction in the 1980s.  Ones at the beginning of the lane closure had a post that came up and had a orange warning sign with an arrow that pointed towards the open lane.  The use of plastic barrels were common by the 1990s.

[Brian556]

I've seen a photo from Mississippi taken in 1978 showing smudge pots in use. Kind of absurd considering how long battery powered lights had been around by then. They were really impractical in my opinion.

[agentsteel53]

I've seen a photo from Mississippi taken in 1978 showing smudge pots in use. Kind of absurd considering how long battery powered lights had been around by then. They were really impractical in my opinion.

I've seen a photo of a highway department employee touching up, using a paint roller on a stick, an IOWA US 75 shield without even taking it off the post.  the shield dated to about 1926 ... the photo was taken in 1979!

[roadfro]

I wonder why they moved from metal to plastic? Because plastic does less damage when they get hit.

That's probably the main reason. Plastic will result in less damage to a vehicle when struck, but also will cause less severe injuries to pedestrians/workers if a struck by the barrel. Also, the plastic barrels are much easier to move and store.

[Rushmeister]

Yes, I remember metal barrels -- and I also remember the smudge pots that often accompanied them. 

When I was a small boy in the late '60s I remember being greatly concerned about the proximity of those smudge pots being in such close proximity to those barrels.  I was afraid there would be a huge fire by the road!  Why?  Well, you see, at the very impressionable age of 5 or so, my dad let me watch "The Battle of the Bulge" (the 1965 version, I think).  The scene where the Americans defend a fuel depot by rolling flaming drums of fuel downhill at the advancing Germans was really imprinted on my young psyche.  In my young mind, all those barrels along the road must have contained gasoline, which meant we might really be in danger with all of those smudge pot flames nearby!  It's funny now, but I was really scared then!  (I always thought the flickering flames of those smudge pots looked so creepy at night!)

Thank goodness better judgement and technology gave us plastic barrels and flasher barricades!

[mightyace]

I had forgotten about the metal barrels until now.  Boy how times have changed.

Plastic will result in less damage to a vehicle when struck

But, not none, I once lost my driver side mirror to a plastic barrel on the Ohio Turnpike as I wasn't 100% awake.  But, I probably would have had more damage with a metal barrel. 

[realjd]

Does anyone have any pictures of these metal barrels? GIS revealed nothing relevant. I haven't seen one in years.

[Bryant5493]

Wow! Metal construction barrels...


Be well,

Bryant

[Mergingtraffic]

anybody remember the yellow cones? black on the base and black on the tip top?  They were used a lot on the 60s and 70s.
My old elementary school used to have a lot, i figured the local dot donated them,  they were used for a "city highway" in gym class in kindergarten. 

[Alps]

anybody remember the yellow cones? black on the base and black on the tip top?  They were used a lot on the 60s and 70s.
My old elementary school used to have a lot, i figured the local dot donated them,  they were used for a "city highway" in gym class in kindergarten. 

YES I remember them from kindergarten! We had cones for gym activities and some were orange but some were yellow. Those must have been the last of them because I'm talking late 80s.