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FHWA Home / Safety / Roadway Departure / HSSD/B-169

HSSD/B-169


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U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Highway Administration

400 Seventh St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590

January 24, 2008

In Reply Refer To: HSSD/B-169

Mr. Brian Stock
Easi-Set Industries
5119 Catlett Road
PO Box 400
Midland, Virginia 22728

Dear Mr. Stock:

Thank you for your letter of September 25, 2007, requesting the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) acceptance of a J-J Hooks Connection with the 20-foot long Kentucky Precast Barrier. You requested that we find this barrier acceptable for use on the National Highway System (NHS) under the provisions of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 "Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features” based on similarity to another 32-inch tall crash tested design.

Introduction

The FHWA guidance on crash testing of roadside safety hardware is contained in a memorandum dated July 25, 1997, titled “INFORMATION: Identifying Acceptable Highway Safety Features.”

You enclosed a drawing of the pin-and-loop Kentucky design which was based on the successfully tested Ohio Precast Concrete Barrier. The Ohio barrier was accepted via FHWA Acceptance Letter B-93 dated January 8, 2002. The Kentucky design is 3 inches wider, therefore heavier, but uses ¾ inch steel bar pin-and-loop connection details that are comparable to the Ohio barrier.

Your request was for acceptance of the Kentucky barrier details, but using the J-J Hooks connection in lieu of the ¾ inch pin-and-loop connector. The J-J “hooks” are formed from 10-mm thick steel plates connected through the barrier by three No.16 ASTM A706 Grade 60 reinforcing bars. This connection design was accepted in FHWA letter B-52 dated March 26, 1999. As the performance of concrete barriers using the J-J hooks connection was better than that of the Ohio pin-and-loop connection we concur in your request.

Findings

The Kentucky precast concrete barrier using the J-J hooks connection detail is acceptable for use on the NHS when requested by a highway agency.

Please note the following standard provisions that apply to FHWA letters of acceptance:

This acceptance is limited to the crashworthiness characteristics of the device(s).

Sincerely yours,

Signature of David A. Nicol

David A. Nicol
Director, Office of Safety Design
Office of Safety

Page last modified on June 2, 2009
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