About HIPEBA
The Project
HIPEBA (“High Performance Steel for Safer and more Competitive Safety Barriers”) is a EU-funded project that focuses on the development of safer and more competitive road restraint systems by using high-performance steels.
HIPEBA (“High Performance Steel for Safer and more Competitive Safety Barriers”) is funded under the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) framework programme. The Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) provides funding for high-quality research projects that support the competitiveness of the European Coal and Steel industries.
Objectives
- Map current and future performance-related requirements for safety barriers.
- Determine how steels with enhanced material characteristics can contribute to improve the performance of safety barriers in all stages of their life cycle.
- Deliver criteria for the technical implementation of high-performance steels into road safety barriers.
- Demonstrate that introducing high-performance steels in safety barriers can make products more competitive and yield economic revenues for EU’s industry and society, compensating the initial purchase cost.
- Develop and test pilot designs that demonstrate the benefits of high-performance steels.
- Ensure that road safety barriers manufactured with high-performance steel meet the required certification and approval processes.
Why?
The European Union, a world leader in the steel industry, is facing increasingly fierce competition from non-EU producers. Advanced research is essential for European industry to remain competitive, as well as a deeper understanding of the paramount importance of high-performance steel within the everyday needs of the road safety sector.
With the purpose of supporting this leadership, HIPEBA is a ground-breaking initiative relevant to the maintenance and new construction of EU road infrastructures, as the latest and safest technology must become available to European road users.