Traffic cones, also called pylons, witches' hats, road cones, highway cones, safety cones, channelizing devices, construction cones, or just cones, are usually
cone
A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines con ...
-shaped markers that are placed on roads or footpaths to temporarily redirect
traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
in a safe manner. They are often used to create separation or
merge lanes during
road construction
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
projects or
automobile accidents, although heavier, more permanent markers or signs are used if the diversion is to stay in place for a long period of time.
History
Traffic cones were invented by Charles D. Scanlon, an American who, while working as a painter for the Street Painting Department of the City of Los Angeles, was unimpressed with the traditional wooden tripods and barriers used to mark roads which were damaged or undergoing repainting. Scanlon regarded these wooden structures as easily broken, hard to see, and a hazard to passing traffic. Scanlon's rubber cone was designed to return to an upright position when struck by a glancing blow. The patent for his invention was granted in 1943.
Traffic cones were first used in the United Kingdom in 1958, when the
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...
opened. These traffic cones were a substitute for red lantern
paraffin Paraffin may refer to:
Substances
* Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications
* Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes
* Alkane ...
burners being used during construction on the Preston Bypass.
In the United States on May 1, 1959 the
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...
in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
adopted the policy of placing the orange safety cones at the left front and left rear corners of their service trucks while parked on the street to increase visibility and safety for the workers. This policy was implemented as the result of a suggestion by their employee, Russell Storch, a cable splicer. He was awarded $45 for his suggestion. This policy is still in use today.
Although originally made of concrete, today's versions are more commonly brightly colored
thermoplastic
A thermoplastic, or thermosoft plastic, is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or moldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling.
Most thermoplastics have a high molecular weight. The polymer chains associate ...
or
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
cones
A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...
.
Recycled
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
PVCs from bottles can be used to create modern traffic cones. Not all traffic cones are conical. Pillar-shaped movable
bollard
A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive v ...
s fulfill a similar function.
Usage
Traffic management
![GWB Bridgegate entrance Sept 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/GWB_Bridgegate_entrance_Sept_2016.jpg)
Traffic cones are typically used outdoors during
road work Road work may refer to:
* Roadworks, when part of a road has to be occupied for work relating to the road
* ''Roadwork'', a novel by Stephen King published in 1981
* ''Roadwork'' (album), a 1972 live album by Edgar Winter and his band White Trash
...
or other situations requiring traffic redirection or advance warning of hazards or dangers, or the prevention of traffic. Traffic cones are also used to mark where children are playing or to block off an area. For night time use or low-light situations traffic cones are usually fitted with a retroreflective sleeve to increase visibility. On occasion, traffic cones may also be fitted with flashing lights for the same reason.
In the US, cones are required by the US Federal Highway Administration's ''
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
The ''Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways'' (usually referred to as the ''Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices'', abbreviated MUTCD) is a document issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the Unit ...
'' (MUTCD) to be fitted with reflective white bands to increase night-time visibility. Reflective collars, white strips made from white reflective plastic, slip over cones snugly, and tape or adhesive can be used to permanently attach the collars to the cones.
Traffic cones are designed to be highly visible and easily movable. Various sizes are used, commonly ranging from around to a little over . Traffic cones come in many different colors, with orange, yellow, pink and red being the most common colors due to their
brightness
Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to be radiating or reflecting light. In other words, brightness is the perception elicited by the luminance of a visual target. The perception is not linear to luminance, ...
. Others come in green and blue, and may also have a retroreflective strip (commonly known as "flash tape") to increase their visibility.
Types and sizes
![Traffic cones london](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Traffic_cones_london.jpg)
Typical traffic cones are fluorescent "safety" orange or lime green, but in some countries a range of other colors are used depending on context. Traffic cones also commonly come with reflective striping around them, to increase visibility.
In the United States, they come in such sizes as:
* , – for indoor/outdoor applications
* , – for outdoor applications such as free-way line painting
* , , (also called Metro cones for their use in cities) – for Non-highway applications e.g. Local street,
* , – for free-way/high-way applications (With reflective stripes)
* , – for free-way/high-way applications (With reflective stripes)
In New Zealand, they are compliant in two sizes for use on all roads; these are:
* 35 in (900mm), up to 16.5 lb (7 kg) - for all activities on all roads. (with two reflective stripes)
* 17.7 in (450mm), up to 16.5 lb (7 kg) - for the protection of wet road markings only. (with one reflective stripe)
Other forms
Cones are easy to move or remove. Where sturdier (and larger) markers are needed, construction sites use
traffic barrels (plastic orange barrels with reflective stripes, normally about the same size as a
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
). When a lane closure must also be a physical barrier against cars accidentally crossing it, a
Jersey barrier
A Jersey barrier, Jersey wall, or Jersey bump is a modular concrete or plastic barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing vehicle crossovers resu ...
is preferred. See also
Fitch Barrier
An impact attenuator, also known as a crash cushion, crash attenuator, or cowboy cushion, is a device intended to reduce the damage to structures, vehicles, and motorists resulting from a motor vehicle collision. Impact attenuators are designed to ...
.
In many countries such as
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
or American states such as
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, traffic barrels are rarely seen. Devices called
bollard
A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive v ...
s are used instead of cones where larger and sturdier warning or delineation devices are needed. Typically, bollards are high fluorescent orange posts with reflective sleeve and heavyweight rubber bases. Larger devices such as
barrier board
Barrier boards are typically long plastic or wooden beams or metal plates used during road works and similar activities to cordon off areas, close roads or direct traffic.
They are also known as council barriers, Show Stoppers, works barricades ...
s may be used instead of cones where larger areas need to be excluded or for longer periods.
Indoor and non-traffic use
Cones are used to lay out courses for autocross competitions.
Cones are also frequently used in indoor public spaces to mark off areas which are closed to pedestrians, such as a
restroom being out of order, or to denote a dangerous condition, such as a slippery floor. They can be used on school playgrounds to limit areas of a playing field, and on ice rinks to define class, private party, or private lesson areas. Some of the cones used for this purpose are miniature, as small as tall, and some are disposable full-size cones made of biodegradable paper.
Being distinctive, easily portable and usually left unguarded, traffic cones are often stolen. Students are frequently blamed, to the extent that the British
National Union of Students has attempted to play down this "outdated stereotype".
In popular culture
![Wfm duke of wellington](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Wfm_duke_of_wellington.jpg)
In 2007, artist
Dennis Oppenheim
Dennis Oppenheim (September 6, 1938 – January 21, 2011) was an American conceptual artist, performance artist, earth artist, sculptor and photographer. Dennis Oppenheim's early artistic practice is an epistemological questioning about the nat ...
commemorated the traffic cone with a monumental sculpture of five five-metre-tall cones. They were installed temporarily in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, Seattle's
Olympic Sculpture Park
The Olympic Sculpture Park, created and operated by the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), is a public park with modern and contemporary sculpture in downtown Seattle, Washington. The park, which opened January 20, 2007, consists of a outdoor sculpture mu ...
, and
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
,
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
.
An orange-and-white cone is the
logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
used by
VideoLAN
VideoLAN is a non-profit organization which develops software for playing video and other media formats. It originally developed two programs for media streaming, VideoLAN Client (VLC) and VideoLAN Server (VLS), but most of the features of VL ...
(best known for its
VLC media player
VLC media player (previously the VideoLAN Client and commonly known as simply VLC) is a free and open-source, portable, cross-platform media player software and streaming media server developed by the VideoLAN project. VLC is available for desk ...
software).
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
group
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
featured traffic cones on their
first two albums, as well as in their concerts at the time.
Traditionally, but unofficially, the
Wellington Statue in Glasgow is decorated with a traffic cone. The presence of the cone is given as the reason the statue is in the
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History Early years
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...
1000 Ultimate Sights guide (at number 229) as a "most bizarre monument".
Television
''The Traffic Cones'' is a Belgian TV series on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
.
See also
*
Amsterdammertje
An ''Amsterdammertje'' () is the typical red-brown steel traffic bollard that is used to separate the pavement from the street in Amsterdam. ''Amsterdammertje'' is Dutch for 'little one from Amsterdam'. The bollards bear the three Saint Andrew's ...
*
Bollard
A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive v ...
*
Cones Hotline
The Cones Hotline was a telephone hotline introduced by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom John Major in June 1992 to allow members of the public to enquire about roadworks on the country's roads and report areas where traffic cones had be ...
*
Construction barrel
Construction barrels (officially known as "drums" in the United States) are traffic control devices used to channel motor vehicle traffic through construction sites or to warn motorists of construction activity near the roadway. They are used pr ...
*
Road traffic control
: ''For the road traffic science, see various articles under Road traffic management.''
Road traffic control involves directing vehicular and pedestrian traffic around a construction zone, accident or other road disruption, thus ensuring the safety ...
*
Traffic barrier
Traffic barriers (sometimes called Armco barriers,AK Steel (formerly Armco) genericized trademark also known in North America as guardrails or guard rails and in Britain as crash barriers) keep vehicles within their roadway and prevent them from ...
*
Traffic guard
Traffic guards, also known as traffic controllers and flaggers, are trained to set up warning signs and barricades to slow down the speed of traffic in a temporary traffic control zone. When they are on scene they will set up equipment to war ...
References
External links
*
wikt:traffic cone
Federal Highway Administration Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
{{DEFAULTSORT:Traffic Cone
American inventions
Road safety
Road transport
Safety equipment
Streetworks
Traffic signs
1914 introductions