BATON ROUGE - Cable barriers in the middle of the interstate are meant to keep out-of-control vehicles from crossing into oncoming traffic, yet, some are damaged and state work crews are trying to make repairs.

The barriers are used on highways across the country.

"They do work, we have anecdotal evidence that has seen the effects," said Rodney Mallett with the Department of Transportation and Development.

The evidence can be found as you drive along the interstate systems and see where vehicles run into those barriers. It's something the state says it's always working to keep up with.

"We have inspectors who go out looking once - at least twice a week," said Mallett. "They make a note and then we have people under contract who will go out and make those repairs."

Each repair costs an average of $1,700-$1,800. Over the last three years, DOTD says it's spent an average of $1.7 million each year to repair damage to cable barriers.

"Crashes are random, we can go a month and not see any damage to any of our cable barriers or we can go out and fix it on Tuesday and then go back out on a Thursday and the same spot has been hit again," said Mallett.

Repairs can depend on the severity of the damage. DOTD says if only two or three barrier poles are knocked down there is still enough tension in the cable for it to do its job. If there's a spot with 10-20 barrier poles knocked down, that project will be expedited.

There are more than 500 miles of cable barriers across Louisiana. DOTD says it's always looking at other locations where those barriers would be beneficial.