Jersey Barriers vs. Defencell™

Pre-cast reinforced concrete walls are common force protection structures due to their blast protection capabilities. Concrete walls, also known as T-walls, are generally constructed in two configurations: Jersey barriers and the much larger Alaska barriers.

Both variations are used to compartmentalize military buildings and can be transported in sections or constructed on-site depending on the amount of locally available resources. Currently, concrete walls make up approximately 15% of force protection defensive structures.

Disadvantages of Concrete Walls

While concrete walls offer many advantages over gabions, they are difficult to transport and cost-prohibitive. For example, a typical Alaska Barrier weighs 16 tons, and can only be carried two at a time on a 40-foot flatbed truck. This also requires, at a minimum, an on-site 20-ton crane for set up.

In addition, the sheer amount of material required for Alaska Barriers often requires the units to be built in Kuwait and shipped to Iraq or Afghanistan as opposed to using local contractors. This process often takes up to three weeks, thus minimizing the possibility of expedient Alaska barrier construction. Concrete standards are also an issue; PSI standards for US concrete is not often met in deployed countries due to quality of materials and/or standards of curing.

High concrete walls require a flat surface to minimize the risk of toppling over during heavy winds. In clay-heavy areas such as Iraq, the soil must be prepared before heavy concrete walls can be installed.

Defencell Advantages

A Defencell barrier's light weight provides more delivery options than any other barrier system. Sling loading a full 20-foot container of Defencell offers enough material to protect an entire 100 man forward operating base.

Defencell systems can be installed in any environment using locally available resources (sand, dirt, or gravel) and is compactable for increased soil stabilization, making it stackable up to about 15 feet with minimal risk of toppling.

Concrete Walls vs. Defencell Chart

	Jersey Barriers	Defencell (DT1, DC2, DC3, DC4)
Container Weight	8,000 lbs per 20 foot section	15,600 lbs, 14,800 lbs, 15,000 lbs, 14,000 lbs
Pallet Weight	NA	780 lbs, 740 lbs, 750 lbs, 700 lbs
Setup Time	Varies by available equipment	About 20 minutes per unit
Assembly Requirements	Requires earth moving equipment	Can be built manually or with engineering equipment
Secondary Fragmentation	Very high risk of fragmentation	No inherent secondary fragmentation
Crash Certification	NA	U.S. State Department K12/M50 Barrier
Delivery Options	Sling load, truck	Sling load, air drop, truck or man portable
Foundational Requirements	Requires flat surface	Can be built on any surface
Ballistics Capability	Small arms, cannon, mortar, artillery, & fragmenting weapons	Small arms, cannon, mortar, artillery, VBIED, & fragmenting weapons
Manufacturing Origin	Local contractors	Made in the US (Berry Amendment compliant)
Maximum Height	2 ft, 8 in	Up to 15 ft
Material	Concrete, steel re-enforcement	100% Polypropelyne Geotextile & Granular Fill
UV resistance	NA	2 Year Guarantee
Available widths	2 ft at base	24 in, 43 in, 65 in and 87 in
Man portability	Not possible	DT1 = 9.5 lbs
Disposability	Non-disposable	Easily disposable