Common Cone

Providing safe access

Protectus conus

Order
Supellex
Family
Coercitio
Genus
Protectus
Species
Protectus conus

Description

Traffic Cones – often called pylons, orange cones, safety cones, or just cones – are cone-shaped markers used for a variety of temporary purposes, generally to channel people and cars, or mark dangerous items.

Identification

Conical shape with flat bottom, generally orange with reflective strip.

Habitat

Primarily found on the street, but often found on the sidewalk.

Range

Throughout the five boroughs.

Examples

Discussion

Just like the close cousin Protectus dolium (Construction Drum/Orange Barrels) the P. conus is everywhere – be it next to a construction site, or in a pothole, P. dolium is another workhorse in safety protection.

What I find most humorous, is that at some point these cones almost act as common property: it’s fairly common to see ConEd cones used by film shoots to reserve parking spaces, or MTA cones being used by bodega owners to guard open sidewalk hatches.

Traffic cones were invented by American Charles D. Scanlon, while working as a painter for the City of Los Angeles. He holds US Patent US2333273A.

There are standard sizes found throughout the US, generally regulated by state and federal law. These sizes are:

12 in (305 mm), 1.5 lb (0.68 kg) – for indoor/outdoor applications
18 in (457 mm), 3 lb (1.4 kg) – for outdoor applications such as free-way line painting
28 in (711 mm), 7 lb (3.2 kg), (also called Metro cones for their use in cities) – for Non-highway applications e.g. Local street,
28 in (711 mm), 10 lb (4.5 kg) – for free-way/high-way applications (With reflective stripes)
36 in (914 mm), 10 lb (4.5 kg) – for free-way/high-way applications (With reflective stripes)

Climate impacts

The Common Cone is generally made of thermoplastic ¹, it takes 350.17 MJ ² of energy to produce one 36” tall injection moulded PVC cone, releasing 14.97 kilograms of CO2 ³ in the process. ⁴

The use and wear of the common cone is hard to quantify with precision. According to manufacturer data, the average lifespan of common cones are two to three years. However, these cones often do not last more than one year as many are stolen or wear out. ⁵ Cuttill estimates that at least 6 million cones a year are sold throughout the United States.

So taking these numbers with some grains of salt, we can calculate the climate impact of the common cone. The total annual estimated energy expenditure to manufacture these cones (assuming each are 36” tall) is 2,101,038,144 MJ ⁶, releasing 89,820,000kgCO2e ⁷. To put this in perspective, that amount of carbon release is equivalent to: