New cable barriers are being constructed along the I-20 to reduce damage caused in car accidents.
The barriers are positioned to stop vehicles crossing the median where it dips below 63 feet in width.
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development administrator Marshall Hill said: "Most head-on collisions result in fatalities. So what we want to try to do is decrease those fatalities."
When a vehicle strikes the cables, the barrier will hold the vehicle in place, rather than allowing it to go through.
Since the cables must be built on a flat surface, construction will involve flattening the land.
Concrete platforms will be installed under the cables to ease maintenance and repairs.
Hill added: "They’re removing the existing grass so they can put out the dirt to raise the slopes, then whenever the cable barrier is installed with the new concrete pads, they’ll put the top soil back on the slopes so that the grass can grow."
Louisiana State Police spokesman Michael Reichardt said: "There hasn’t been a fatality crash from a car crossing the median over there since the cables have been put up, so that’s a good thing."
The cable barriers are set to be installed over 43m of highway in Ouachita and Lincoln Parishes.
The project is scheduled for completion next summer.
Louisiana State Police spokesman Michael Reichardt said: "They’re there for safety,and that’s what the State Police is all about–making sure everybody in the state of Louisiana is safe."
