J-J Hooks barrier surpasses 12 million linear feet sold

June 4, 2014 | J-J Hooks

ACROSS THE MILES: MORE THAN 12 MILLION LINEAR FEET OF NORTH AMERICA’S MOST SUCCESSFUL PRECAST CONCRETE SAFETY BARRIER BRAND SOLD TO DATE

Lined up end-to-end, J-J Hooks proprietary precast concrete safety barriers would stretch across the country from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles

MIDLAND, Va. – J-J Hooks, North America’s most successful, proprietary precast concrete safety barrier, now surpasses 12 million linear feet of product made and installed in road construction projects and security barrier applications nationwide. Currently selling at an average pace of one million feet annually, the product is the most widely used safety barrier connection design in North America.

According to Rodney Smith, Chairman at Smith-Midland Corporation, which developed and patented J-J Hooks in 1990, the product is designed for quick installation and requires no additional hardware or tools. “A 3-man crew can set or remove more than one mile of J-J Hooks during an 8-hour shift,” Smith added.

The J-J Hooks barrier connection system can be used either as a temporary or permanent system. It incorporates self-aligning, identical ended connectors that allow for quick, easy installation. With no loose hardware to worry about, a single section of J-J Hooks can be easily removed without disturbing adjacent sections, thus eliminating the possibility of lost, stolen, or damaged parts – a critical point both in terms of fast emergency access and protection against tampering and vandalism.

Approved for use in 41 states and nine countries as an alternative to standard barrier designs, J-J Hooks are sold through nearly 40 licensed precast concrete manufacturers in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, and Trinidad-Tobago through a licensing agreement with Easi-Set Worldwide, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Smith-Midland Corporation. Not limited to highway use, the product can also be found at high-profile venues like the Super Bowl, the World Trade Center redevelopment site, presidential inaugurations, political conventions, and high-level multinational conferences.

According to Smith, J-J Hooks’ unique design and functionality caught on quickly once released nationally in 1990. “This is a product that was successful from day one. As more and more people heard about it, J-J Hooks’ popularity just spread further and further,” said Smith. “Over the years, we’ve continually upgraded the product to ensure that it meets and/or exceeds the current test levels.” For example, J-J Hooks is now MASH level 3 (Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware) tested and approved by the Federal Highway Administration for bolt-down and pin-down applications. MASH presents uniform guidelines for crash testing permanent and temporary highway safety features and recommends evaluation criteria to assess test results.

“J-J Hooks truly is a unique and complete solution that not only provides a level a safety that’s required on federal highways,” said Moffette Tharpe, Managing Director for Easi-Set Worldwide, “but that also eliminates costly steel connections that require additional pieces of loose hardware and extra labor to set and/or remove.”

About Smith-Midland Corporation

Smith-Midland Corporation (DE) is a publicly traded company (OTCQB: SMID). Smith-Midland (VA) develops, manufactures, and sells a broad array of precast concrete products for use primarily in the construction, transportation, and utilities industries. SMC has two manufacturing facilities located in Midland, Virginia and Reidsville, North Carolina. Easi-Set® Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smith-Midland Corporation (DE), licenses the production and sale of SMC developed products around the world. For more information on J-J Hooks, please call (540) 439-8911 or visit www.jjhooks.com.