One fiber opens up a "blue ocean" - "ancient fiber path" opens up a new market for flexible highway

On July 1st, Shaoxing Daily reported that recently, good news spread from Jiangsu to Zhejiang Guxiandou Green Fiber Co., Ltd. "Jurong City is very satisfied with the new guardrail demonstration section we installed in Maoshan Scenic Area and intends to promote its application throughout the city," said Jin Ge, the general manager of the company. The company's newly launched fiber reinforced flexible composite guardrail was recognized by the market as soon as it made its debut, which has inspired the "ancient fiber path".

Guxiandou is currently the world's largest producer of polyester industrial yarn. In recent years, the company has focused on expanding its downstream industry chain through technological innovation, extending from raw material production to finished product production. The new guardrail is one of the new products.

In the past, guardrails on both sides of highways were generally made of galvanized steel plates, with monotonous styles and colors. Due to the limitations of materials, their safety performance was also difficult to improve significantly. The new type of guardrail that the reporter saw on the "Ancient Trail" is not only diverse in color, but also very lightweight. "It is made from our company's industrial polyester fiber, which has won the second prize of the National Technology Invention Award, and is manufactured through special processes. Its weight is only about one sixth of that of traditional steel guardrails." Yang Zhichao, the company's chief engineer, introduced that the weight of the guardrail has decreased, but its safety has greatly improved. Even if a large truck carrying 10 tons collides with it at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, it can be effectively intercepted.

In order to develop this new type of guardrail, "Gu Xian Dao" began in September 2016, attracting technical backbone and investing nearly ten million yuan, and has cooperated with Tongji University, Zhejiang University, and others. "This product is the world's first and has undergone new explorations in many fields." Yang Zhichao said that in the past three years, after experiencing multiple failures, the "Ancient Trail" finally achieved the "combination of rigidity and flexibility" of guardrails. "In the past, when a car collided with a guardrail on a highway, it would rebound and collide with nearby or later vehicles again. However, this guardrail can absorb the impact energy, guide it back to the lane, and greatly reduce secondary injuries."

It is understood that recently, the "Ancient Trail" has made improvements to the production process of this new type of guardrail, and now the cost of flexible guardrails per kilometer is lower than traditional steel guardrails. The person in charge of the company's marketing department said, "Currently, many regions across the country are promoting the construction of beautiful countryside and the expansion of national and provincial roads. Multiple cities have expressed their cooperation intentions to us, and a new market worth billions has been opened up."