Here's a "what is it" about a feature in a road, as I spotted this metal area near an intersection and wonder what it was designed to do.

 

for guesses based on the shape and size, I've speculated that these were for weighing the axle passing over them, or raising to block traffic from that lane, or, for holding a partition of wall, again, to block traffic from that lane, but only to prevent the blocks from being pushed out of alignment and position