Jersey barriers (1969)

[bapopik at AOL.COM]

OED doesn't have "Jersey barriers." Is it in DARE? Anybody got a good date for it? Other names for it?
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Gotta go to something tonight--no time!
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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7722322&BRD=1841&PAG=461&dept_id=112709&rfi=6
The squat concrete barriers, known as Jersey barriers, for the state where they were first used on highways, have become common sights in front of many Downtown buildings. Many government and private buildings have used them in an apparent attempt to stop car bombings in the wake of 9/11.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_barrier
Jersey barrier
>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A Jersey barrier was originally developed to divide multiple lanes on a highway by the state of New Jersey in the United States. A Jersey barrier stands 3?5 feet tall and is made of poured concrete. Their widespread use on the highway has led to many other uses as a general barrier. They are also known as K-rails (especially when used temporarily during roadway construction) or traffic dividers.
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In the State of New Jersey the term "Jersey barrier" is rarely utilized. Residents, government agencies, and road traffic and media reports on radio and television (including stations located in New York City and Philadelphia) usually use the term "traffic divider".
The older barrier system of guard rails or guide rails did not prevent traffic from entering on-coming traffic.
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http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Jersey_Barrier.html
  New Jersey Median Barrier History

The New Jersey Median Barrier is the tapered concrete barrier that is used in many narrow highway medians, to prevent vehicle crossovers into oncoming traffic.
Sources: A report from the Transportation Research Board, National Research Council. The report is called NCHRP Synthesis 244, "Guardrail and Median Barrier Crashworthiness", published in 1997. Chapter 5 is about concrete median barriers.
A quote from the text, "Although it is not clear exactly when or where the first concrete median barriers were used, concrete median barriers were used in the mid-1940s on US-99 on the descent from the Tehachapi Mountains in the central valley south of Bakersfield, California. This first generation of concrete barriers was developed to (a) minimize the number of out-of-control trucks penetrating the barrier, and (b) eliminate the need for costly and dangerous median barrier maintenance in high-accident locations with narrow medians -- concerns that are as valid today as they were 50 years ago".
The first concrete median barrier used in New Jersey was installed in 1955, and it was only 18 inches tall. It looked like a low vertical wall with a curb on each side. Operational problems were observed, the shape was changed, and the height was increased to 24 inches, and to 32 inches in 1959. The commonly seen shape came into being then. Basically, going upward, the first 2 inches from the pavement rises vertically, the next 10 inches rises at a 55-degree angle, and the remainder at an 84-degree angle (as measured from horizontal).
New Jersey did not use crash-testing to develop the barrier. The state highway department observed the accident results of its barrier installations, and evolved the shape of the barrier. Both New Jersey and California continued experimenting in the early 1960s, and the New Jersey barrier was widely adopted by California; they installed 132 miles by 1972 and 680 miles by 1988. The barrier's use has expanded to nearly every state since then.
Actually there are six different concrete median barrier designs, although the New Jersey barrier is the most-used design. It should also be mentioned that these same shapes are commonly used on single-faced roadside barriers, such as bridge parapets, tops of retaining walls in fill sections, and barriers against rock cuts.
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Harbor Freeway Will Test Concrete Divider; Chain-Link Fence Repairs Caused Jams So Experiment Is Being Tried on 3-Mile Stretch
LEE DYE. Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File). Los Angeles, Calif.: Mar 2, 1969. p. B1 (1 page)
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Concrete Barriers Will Go Up on Freeways; New Freeway Barriers to Go Up
MARTY COREN. Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File). Los Angeles, Calif.: Aug 9, 1971. p. A1 (2 pages)
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PREVENT CROSSOVER CRASHES; Concrete Median Barriers Proving Freeway Lifesaver Concrete Barriers Cut Fatalities on Freeways FREEWAY SAFETY
RAY HEBERT. Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File). Los Angeles, Calif.: Nov 12, 1972. p. 1 (3 pages)