Thirty colorful vinyl jackets featuring the logo of the race, as well as a number of the race’s sponsors, were placed over crowd control barriers along the race route and at the nearby park featuring food and exhibit tents.

Tamis created 18 different barrier jackets for this event. In addition to a number of jackets with the Great Race of Agoura Hills logo, jackets were also created for sponsors including Dole, Northwest Mutual, Whole Foods, Arrowhead Water, Road Runner Sports, and others.

More than 7,000 runners participated in the 2012 Great Race of Agoura Hills. One of the largest running events in the Los Angeles area, the race has been held annually since 1986.

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Getting the barriers properly set up can become a time-consuming task, so any efficiencies you can gain will reduce your labor costs. Pre-planning, plus the use of carts (which are specially designed for the transport of crowd control barriers) can save significant time, plus wear and tear on your staff.

How many barricades? How many feet do you need to cover?
When planning the barricade set up, get a handle on the linear distance that needs to be covered. The three standard barricade sizes are 8 feet, 6.5 feet, and 3 feet.

You may wish to deploy the fewest amount of barricades. No matter what size the barriers are, transport time will be the same, but if you decide to use the longest size of barrier, there will be fewer that need to be handled and set into place by your crew. For example, a line of 80 feet can be covered by ten 8-foot barricades. If you use 6.5 foot barriers, you would need more than 12 units to cover the space.

Having a mixture of sizes in your inventory will be beneficial for “fill ins”. For example, if you need to cover 30 feet, you could use three 8-footers, plus one 6.5 foot unit.

Barrier Jackets Equal Revenue
Many events or venues use crowd control barriers as “advertising space” by selling barrier jackets to sponsors. Barriers that are outfitted with jackets featuring the logos or messages of sponsors serve the dual purpose of providing crowd control while acting as ground-level billboards. If you are selling this barrier jackets as part of sponsorship packages, you may wish to use smaller sizes barriers (i.e. 6.5-foot, rather than 8-foot barriers) because that would result in more barriers to “sell.”

Transporting Barricades
Moving barriers out of storage and to their final destination one at a time could be a very time- and labor-intensive task. Fortunately two styles of transport carts have been manufactured to enable the movement of anywhere from 2 to 56 barriers at a time, resulting in time and money savings

A Basic Push Cart holds eight barricades and can be pushed by hand.

A Large Portable Cart holds 28 barricades and can be pulled or lifted (or both) by a forklift.

A large steel barrier cart holding up to 28 barricades can be securely lifted by a forklift

Depending on their length, crowd control barriers generally weigh between 30 and 55 pounds, so using carts not only saves significant time, but also reduces hazards and physical stress on workers. Both types of carts are easy to assemble and store, and carts can even double as storage units when barriers are not in use.

These types of carts can also be used in combination with each other. For example, a large portable cart could be used to move a high quantity of barricades from storage to a staging area closer to their final destination, and then the smaller push cart can be used to take barriers to their line space eight at a time.

A forklift can be used to pull a cart of 28 barriers and lift another 28 barrier cart at the same time, moving a total of 56 barriers in one trip.

Final Destination
Once the barriers are placed where they need to be, simply interlock them together to form a strong impenetrable line to establish crowd control. Then, at the conclusion of the event, carts can be used again to efficiently move the barriers back into storage.

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The House of Blues contacted Tamis, the leader in designing and supplying jackets which cover crowd management barricades, in advance of the opening night of Santana’s residency, which began May 2. The venue supplied a black and white logo to Tamis’ custom graphics team, which in turn presented the venue with three options for differing jacket looks featuring a color “swirl”and graphic embellishments to the original logo. The House of Blues selected one, and Tamis produced nine Santana logo jackets, in addition to nine jackets featuring the House of Blues logo.

Most performing arts venues, including auditoriums, nightclubs and casinos, utilize crowd control barriers to designate lines and denote no-access areas. Barrier jackets enable venues to then use those barricades as ground-level billboards by featuring the site’s logo, or a sponsor’s logo or message.

In addition to creating jackets which replicate a company or event’s existing logo, the Tamis Corporation also provides a custom graphic service, in which a more detailed or elaborate design can be created. This can provide extra attention-getting punch to a company or site’s branding or marketing efforts.

Santana’s House of Blues at Mandalay Bay residency, titled “Greatest Hits Live: Santana – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” will play 80 nights per year in 2012 and 2013.

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The museum purchased Tensaclear portable posts from the Tamis Corporation.  These clear, hollow plastic posts (which connect to each other with retractable belts) not only direct visitors and block off designated areas, but they promote the PEZ brand by housing the familiar pink, red, purple, orange, and yellow packages of PEZ candy.

Opened in December 2011, the visitor center decided upon the Tensaclear posts instead of more traditional line management posts because the novelty of having PEZ-filled posts fit in perfectly with the theme of the museum, explained Visitor Center Manger Shawn Peterson.

The PEZ-filled Tensaclear posts are used inside the center’s front door to direct visitors to the ticket window, and also within the museum where they keep visitors a few feet away from a display of vintage PEZ vending machines.  The posts and retractable belts were also used to control public access at the site’s March 13, 2012 dedication ceremony which was attended by Connecticut Governor Daniel P. Malloy.

Covering nearly 6,000 square feet, the museum features a large exhibit of PEZ memorabilia, a viewing area into the PEZ production floor, interactive exhibits, and a display of the world’s largest PEZ dispenser. The museum projects that it will welcome 88,000 visitors per year.

Tensaclear posts, available from the Tamis website www.tensabarrieronline.com, combine the functionality of standard Tensabarrier posts with the opportunity to display promotional items such as candy, coffee beans, lotto balls, or gumballs.

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The Tamis Corporation not only offers you the most valuable and high-quality products, but we can also make sure your products get delivered and installed in the most effective and efficient manner.  We are experts in facility management, and our “white glove” service takes you from pre-sale to post-installation.  You’ll have an expert to work with not only before and after your order, but also right there on site during the set-up.

Here’s What Our “White Glove” Service Provides to You:

• Expert pre-sale consultation: We work with you to analyze your needs, matching our products to your facility’s specific needs and budget.
• One-stop shopping: We stock a wide range of products that can be utilized for a wide number of aspects of your facility.  There are also a number of complimentary/related products that we can access from other “vendors” if necessary
• Shipping and Delivery: We arrange for the delivery of the products
• Set Up: We install the products at your site
• Clean Up: We handle the removal of any refuse after the set-up
• Haul Away: We can also remove any of your old, outdated, or no-longer-needed products
• Post-sale/installation followup: You’ll have a personal “rep” at Tamis who will discuss any possible tweaking of your set up, and look to the future

Examples of What Our “White Glove” Service Can Do at Your Site:

• We can set up crowd control barricades at your entrance, inside your facility, in your parking lot, at your ticket windows, at your concession areas or merchandise stores
• We can set up line management systems (portable post and retractable belt) at locations where customers line up at your facility
• We can set up Plastic Jersey Barriers at your construction site or work zone
• We can set up temporary fencing anywhere on your site
• We can place waste receptacles wherever you need them
• We can install turnstiles at your entrances

We know crowd control, line management, crowd management, and security issues.  We have been supplying these types of products and advising facilities on best practices for nearly three decades.  We can anticipate the scenarios you’ll face, point you to solutions, and help you implement those solutions on site.

We’ve worked with tens of thousands of sites and events:

• Major stadiums
• Major sports arenas
• Concert and performing arts venues
• Outdoor sporting events (big city marathons) and concerts
• Major city and small town parades
• Convention centers
• Casinos

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Some suppliers are now trying to sell barriers manufactured to the same specifications as theseBeijingbarriers.  If any seller touts their barriers’ similarity to those used at the Beijing Olympics, it is a clear signal for “buyer beware.”

The Beijing Barrier Bottom Line

Experienced buyers of crowd control barricades know the difference between cheap knock-off barriers and high-quality products that meet the standards established for use atU.S.events and public facilities.  But first-time customers can be misled by a product that looks good in a color photograph – one in which the quality deficiencies can not be seen.

SomeU.S.manufacturers of barricades (or re-sellers operating from start-up websites) are trying to pass off sub-standard barriers manufactured with the same low-quality goals as those used at the 2008 Olympics.  One company even mentioned the Beijing Olympics in their sales brochure.

Unfortunately, most Chinese imports in the market today follow the pattern of low quality that began with the barriers made for the Olympics.

Make no mistake – these barriers looked good from a distance, and in television shots. Therefore, it is even more important to be informed if you’re looking for a crowd control barricade which will last more than a couple of weeks.

Cutting Corners was the Goal

Prior to the Olympics, a Chinese company sub-contracted the work of manufacturing barriers out to local fabricators.  The directive was to make the barriers as cheap as possible.  They were told to do whatever it takes – use cheap materials and sacrifice quality – to keep the cost down.

There were at least five different variations of barriers at the Beijing Olympics.

It was understood that these barriers would be for one-time use only.  The primary objective was to have barriers that looked good on television.  But there was no need for the barriers to retain any value once the Olympic Games were over.  Also, they were designed to function as directional devices and to visually delineate areas, but not for crowd control – their quality, strength and stability were not sufficient to serve a true crowd control purpose.

These barriers began rusting during the Olympic Games.  Because of their low quality, they had no resale value.  Most of the barriers remain in piles at various places aroundBeijing – they can’t be re-used or salvaged, and no other company or event wants them.

The Deficiencies

One of the primary deficiencies with these barriers sprung from the fact that they were painted, not hot-dip galvanized.  Cheap white paint was used. The barriers began to rust very fast.  Simple scratching of the paint – which happened any time one barrier bumped against another – resulted in almost-immediate rust.  For all intents and purposes, barriers could not even be moved without getting scratched, and therefore rusting.  In addition to the external scratches, the barriers rusted from the inside out.

Rust was frequently seen at the weld points.  And because the bases were often crudely welded on, rust was also frequently seen at the point where the base met the frame.

The barriers were manufactured from cheap, basic steel, with a thin wall thickness.  (Standard barriers used in theU.S.are made from a thick gauge.)  As a result of this, theBeijingbarriers were very lightweight; lacking in strength and stability.

Beijing-style barriers featured simple hooks.  Thus, these barriers could not truly interlock.  Without a true interlock, these barriers could easily be lifted by an individual, sacrificing the integrity of any line of barricades.

These barriers also featured uprights that were simply spot-welded to the frame; not inserted.  They also included fewer uprights than standard barriers used in theU.S.  Uprights on these barriers were spaced out wider – a 2.5-meter Beijing-style barrier only has 15 uprights, compared to 18 uprights in qualityU.S.barricades.

For some styles of barriers manufactured for the Olympics, the frame could simply be lifted out of its bases.  Some variations featured the same size of base on both ends of the barriers.  When these barriers were placed at angles, this resulted in an unstable and unbalanced barrier.

These barriers would not be appropriate for crowd control.  They lack the quality characteristics to serve that purpose.

The Alternative

Even if you think you only have a one-time need for barricades, you’ll likely find that it would be more economical to rent quality barricades, as opposed to purchasing cheaply-manufactured ones.

If you have budget concerns, an experienced manufacturer and supplier like The Tamis Corporation (manufacturer of Blockader crowd control barricades) can work with you to arrive at a solution which saves you money, while retaining some degree of quality.  We can help you avoid any embarrassing situations.  You can acquire a product which will retain value after its first use.  You can use these barriers again and again, or if you have no need to do so, the barriers will have re-sale value.

You’ll actually end up wasting money on a cheap product such as Beijing-style barriers.  Talk to us to discuss more viable options for your needs.

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Pre-planning and strategizing your messaging to attendees (via both signage and visual cues) are critical.  A good starting point would be taking a walking tour of your site.  Do this twice – once in an empty venue, and a second time when patrons are there while an event is going on.

Assess your facility’s current success in the following aspects:

• Are you taking advantage of every possible opportunity to communicate with your attendees?
• Can your attendees easily discern – visually – where lines (for tickets, concessions, etc.) begin and end?
• Is it clear to patrons which areas of your facility they cannot access?  Is there signage telling them this?  Are there physical barriers to block them?
• Does your facility have effective products to quickly and efficiently facilitate the movement of your patrons – in and out of the facility, and in lines within the facility?
• Does your facility have the proper crowd management tools to maintain safety and keep patrons from experiencing or causing discomfort, injury or damage?

Particularly concentrate on your messaging and your crowd management products in these areas:

• Entrances and exits
• Ticket windows
• Concession areas, souvenir stands, and merchandise stores
• Work areas
• No access zones
• Parking lots

If your assessment leads you to conclude that your venue could benefit from additional crowd management and communications tools, here are some of the most popular, widely-used products which help to keep crowds safe and orderly and facilitate quick and efficient movement of your patrons.

Tensabarriers: Stadiums frequently employ this portable post and retractable belt line management system wherever their attendees line up, particularly at concession areas, souvenir stands, and in-facility stores.  Tensabarriers provide very unobtrusive, yet very effective, queue management.  They are also often used to control access to areas such as luxury boxes or VIP seating.

Crowd Control Barriers: Interlocking steel crowd control barricades are ubiquitous at the nation’s stadiums and arenas, from use on the field (during pre- and post-game events) to providing crowd and line control at entrances, ticket lines, food and souvenir stands, and parking lots.  They are also the most effective tool for blocking and/or surrounding no access zones.

Barrier Jackets: Wherever crowd control barricades are placed at your venue, custom-fit barrier covers can communicate a message.  In addition to promoting your brand, these jackets can also be used to convey information about policies, or provide patrons with directions from one part of your building to another.

Signage: Make sure your signs are colorful and attention getting.  They need to make a visual impression on your patrons.  Messages need to be as succinct – yet clear – as possible.  Consider placing messages – or warnings, when necessary – on existing structures such as railings.

Parking Lot products: Safety and clear messaging also needs to be considered in the place where many patrons will begin and end their journey to your venue – the parking lot.  Both barricades and posts with retractable belts can be used to block off selected areas.  Traffic cones can also be used to keep vehicles within safe pathways.

Safety and security are as important in small public facilities as they are in major sports stadiums.  All venues can benefit from a review of their crowd management products, policies, and communication strategies.  Experienced suppliers of crowd management products, such as the Tamis Corporation, can help you with your assessment and work to come up with solutions tailor-made for your site.

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Additionally, more than 300 portable retractable belt stanchions will be used to create visible and efficient waiting lines on the grounds.  More than 300 feet of temporary fencing panels purchased from Tamis will also create visible perimeters at various locations.

Blockader Barrier jackets can be used to draw attention to sponsors

A number of the crowd control barricades will feature barrier jackets produced by Tamis.  Visitors will see these “ground level billboards” on barrier jackets or table covers featuring the logos of Castrol, M&M’s, Snickers, and Xbox Kinect.

Blockader crowd control barricades will also be featured in a new Samsung commercial airing during the Super Bowl.

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The Jersey barrier, as you see it on the road today, has more than 50 years of innovation behind it.  These barriers were first used on a rather dangerous section of the mountain road in California as early as 1946.  But it was developed at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken New Jersey under the guidance of the New Jersey State Highways Department- hence the name.

These barriers are also known as K-rails in some of the western states, no doubt a reference to the California Department of Transportation’s guidelines for temporary concrete traffic barriers.

Though the Jersey barrier is the most popular of the modular concrete barriers there are about six variations to the vanilla version.  The similar shape is used on one-sided roadside barriers.

The barrier was tested in Canada by the Department of Highways in Ontario in 1968. What followed was a variation of the Jersey barrier design; 10 inches taller at 42 inches and was called the Ontario Tall Wall.

Another variant of the Jersey barrier has been the Bremer wall which is 12 feet high, is portable and used against blasts throughout the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Bremer wall is also called the Texas barrier because it is larger but similar in appearance to the Jersey barrier. The largest barriers, called Alaska barriers, are 20 feet high.  The Texas and the Alaska barriers have a rectangular ledge on which a person can sit, while the Jersey barrier slopes off at the base.

The Texas barrier is quite different from the Texas Constant Slope barrier which is used for traffic control.  The Texas Constant Slope barrier is made of reinforced concrete with a single slope and is used to separate traffic lanes.

The main advantage the Constant Slope has is that it has vertical concrete walls which help during the resurfacing or repaving of the roadbed, as the variations in height of the asphalt do not affect its efficiency.   These barriers have been particularly effective on curved ramps.

The other variation of the Jersey barrier is the F-Shape barrier which is taller, with a lesser gradient and a lower bottom section.  Interestingly, this barrier is called the F-Shape because it was the sixth configuration tested in a 1976 research by the Federal Highway Administration.

The F-Shape is used where permanent concrete barriers are required.  This kind of barrier has proved to be more successful than the Jersey barrier.

Another barrier which was been used, albeit briefly, is the GM barrier, but it has been obsolete for some time. However, this barrier, which is a bulkier version of the Jersey barrier, was designed by General Motors along with the Texas Transportation Institute back in the 1970s, when vehicles were much larger than they are now.

In the UK and Ireland, the concrete step barrier has been used extensively and is the approved as a safety device to be used as the central median on the highways.  The barrier is designed to reduce injury to people inside small cars in the case of a collision.  The step design also reduces the vehicles contact to the barrier.

Cable barriers, which consist of steel wire ropes fixed on relatively weak supports, are also used on many state highways. The primary purpose of this barrier is similar to the Jersey barrier and it is to stop a vehicle from leaving the road and colliding with an oncoming vehicle or with a fixed object. These barriers are most used to separate lanes on the highway.

A different version of the concrete barriers is the hollow polyethylene barrier, which can be filled with water on-site. These barriers can be also filled with soil, cement or spill but that would make it heavier and its main advantage- its portability – would be reduced.  Theseplastic barriers are mainly used to demarcate work zones.

While most of the modular concrete barriers look similar, the main differences between the more widely used Jersey barrier and the variations is the height of the “break point” between the top and the bottom slope, the width and the overall height.

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According to the American Heritage.com History’s Homepages, Jersey barriers made their maiden appearance in the year 1946, on the treacherous and hazardous mountain paths of California’s Ridge Route Highway, which was the US route 99. This was a route frequented by truckers and the incidences of head-on collisions were high then. The California Division of Highways experimented with parabolic concrete median barriers along this route, and they noted a decline in the collision rate after deployment of the barriers.

However, for reasons best known to them, California Highway engineers did not pursue any further research and developments on concrete Jersey barriers for the next 20 years. Meanwhile a prestigious publication, Engineering News- Record ran the California story, which set the stage for New Jersey Highway engineers to develop and implement the idea of their concrete median barriers in 1949. The barriers were 19-inch-high, with 30-inch-width and had concave parabolic faces on either side.

J-J hooks make easy allignment

The successful initial attempts that brought down the accident rates considerably, wherever the Jersey barriers were deployed gave impetus to further research and detailed study regarding the materials used and the sizes of the barriers. Jersey barrier heights went up gradually to from 19 inches, to 20 inches and then the standard 32 inch height Jersey barriers that are in use even today.After numerous crash tests by engineers from different states and California in particular; they crash tested radio controlled automobiles, at various speeds and approach angles, using both steel guardrails and Jersey barriers, the results favored the Jersey barriers because these were effective in providing safety and had  low maintenance costs. Soon the Jersey barriers lined many state highways in the US; Jersey barriers are evaluated using NCHRP Report 350 as standard, which stipulates three main criteria: Structural adequacy, risks to the occupants and trajectory of the vehicle after impact.

In 1992, a study undertaken by The American Automobile Association, The National Science Foundation, and Institute of Transportation Studies of the University of California at Irvine reported a decrease in injuries, fatalities and fatal accidents on highways where concrete median barriers were used, concluding that concrete Jersey barrier were the single most effective safety solution for highway traffic. None of the several variations of the median barriers introduced during the course of the years, matched up with the performance and economic viability of concrete Jersey barriers. Shea Concrete Products, a family owned business started in the year 1949, is a leading manufacturer of concrete median Jersey barriers. The innovative J-J hooks cast into the barriers makes easy end to end fitting and perfect alignment.

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