Transportation Defined: Rebar Caps

Rebar caps

This blog’s “Building a Freeway” series is our attempt at explaining the many steps involved in constructing a major transportation corridor...

We’ve visited several construction sites in order to share with you this up-close look at the process, but we have to admit sometimes we’ll see some construction-related object and have absolutely no idea what it is.

It’s a good thing there are plenty of people on the site of whom we can ask: “what is that?”

We thought we’d share their answers here on the blog and we’ll get started with rebar caps.

A rebar cap is a special steel-reinforced plastic “mushroom” cap that is placed on protruding rebar at construction sites.

Rebar caps protect from injuries.

Even though it’s small, it serves an important purpose: these caps provide protection from injuries. An exposed piece of rebar can mean scratches and minor injuries … or, worse, if someone were to fall from above onto a piece of rebar that’s sticking up.

If there’s a long row of rebar, a 2x4 piece of lumber can actually be placed on top of these caps providing another layer of safety.

Transportation Defined is a series of explanatory blog posts designed to define the things you see on your everyday commute. Let us know if there's something you'd like to see explained ... leave a comment here on the blog or over on our Facebook page!