Work Area Protection, headquartered in St Charles, Illinois, is one of the largest and most respected manufacturers in the field of temporary traffic control devices worldwide. Work Area Protection is a provider of innovative safety solutions, including the only MASH approved, Speed Dependent Crash Attenuator, Smart Work Zone Systems, Patented Chips-Software and Data Packages. Work Area Protection has recently become a part of Hill and Smith Holdings PLC which is an international group of companies with leading positions in the design, manufacture and supply of infrastructure products and the provision of galvanizing service.
One of the speciality traffic control devices manufactured by WAP is the Smart Cushion® crash attenuator. The product is a revolutionary, speed-dependent product that varies stopping resistance during an impact and is the only fully re-directive attenuator tested to MASH and NCHRP 350 with no changes. The Smart Cushion® crash attenuator allows lighter and slower-moving vehicles to have longer ride-down distances and lower ride-down g-forces. Unlike fixed-resistance attenuators, the Smart Cushion® attenuator does not reach maximum stopping resistance unless a vehicle is travelling at the maximum design speed. This fully re-directive, non-gating, bidirectional, impact attenuator was designed for maximum safety and reusability, as well as outstanding durability before, during and after an impact. The Smart Cushion® is the only attenuator with a reverse-tapered design to eliminate side panel stress during a collapse. It also has an extremely low angle of exit on side impacts to keep vehicles from rebounding back into traffic and causing secondary accidents.
