44 Bowen Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
10 February 2025
David Adamson
[FYI request #29648 email]
REF: OIA-17283
Dear David
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email of 27 December 2024 requesting the fol owing information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
Can you please provide any information on if NZTA has assessed the potential use of “rol ing
barriers” on any part of the state highway network?
The barrier system you mention in your request known as a "Safety Rol er Barrier" has been assessed
and accepted by the Austroads Safety Barrier Assessment Panel (ASBAP) and these barriers are a
MASH Test Level 4 system (a crash test which evaluates the safety performance of highway safety
features). However, these barriers are not currently available on the New Zealand market and are not
being explored to be used in New Zealand on our state highways at this time. As such, NZ Transport
Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) has not assessed the potential use of these on the state highway
network.
The NZTA report,
Specification and guidelines for road safety hardware and devices NZTA M23:2022 (the M23 specification)
provides the various road safety devices and hardware currently used in New
Zealand. As Safety Roller Barriers require a lot of maintenance if damaged, they would be unlikely to
be implemented in New Zealand even if they were to become available. These barriers would not
provide enough benefits for them to be included above the other barriers already listed within
Appendix A of the M23 specification.
If you wish to read more about the M23 specification, Appendix A and sections 6 and 11 are relevant
to your query. You can view this document on the NZTA website at the following link:
www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/road-safety-barrier-systems/docs/m23-road-safety-barrier-
systems.pdf
If you would like to discuss this reply with NZTA, please contact Ministerial Services, by email at
[NZTA request email].
Yours sincerely
Cate Quinn
National Manager Portfolio and Standards
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