Expert Traffic Cone Solutions

Height is a specification, not a preference

Cone height is set by how fast traffic is passing, because a cone has to be seen in time to be acted on.

750mm cones are the usual requirement on higher speed roads, and 1 metre cones are used where visibility needs to carry further still. 450mm and 500mm cones suit low speed environments: car parks, footways, yards, private roads and pedestrian areas.

Work in the public highway is governed by the Safety at Street Works and Road Works code, which sets out cone sizes, spacing and taper lengths for each layout and speed. Check the code for the job rather than working from what is in the van, because an undersized cone line is a defect on any inspection.

One piece or two

One piece cones are moulded as a single unit. Nothing to come apart, nothing to lose, and they survive being thrown into a truck day after day. The choice for a busy operation.

Two piece cones separate into body and base. The base takes the weight and the damage, and the sleeve carries the reflective banding. When a cone gets clipped, you replace the part that was hit rather than the whole cone, which is meaningfully cheaper across a fleet.

Sand weighted cones add mass in the base for exposed and windy locations, where a standard cone walks across the road on its own.

Colours and legends

Red and white is the standard highways cone. The others carry meaning:

• Blue is widely used to warn of overhead hazards, with sleeves printed for overhead cables and overhead structures.
• Green commonly marks an access point or a permitted route through a closure.
• Yellow indicates no waiting or a restriction.
• Black cones are used for funerals and for discreet reservation, where standard cones would be inappropriate.

Printed sleeves including "No Waiting" turn a cone into a sign, which saves putting out a separate one for a straightforward restriction.

Setting them out

Cones work as a line rather than individually. Spacing has to be close enough that the taper reads as a continuous edge from a driver's eye height, and the code sets maximum spacings for each layout.

Two habits do most of the damage. Cones left in place after the work finishes, which teaches drivers that cones are decoration. And gaps in a taper where one has been knocked over and not replaced, which is where a vehicle enters the works.

Check reflective sleeves are clean. A sleeve covered in road film returns a fraction of the light, and the cone is effectively unlit at night.

For signage, see quick-fit signs.