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December 11, 2003

refer to: hsa-10/b-34f

David E. Wasserstrom
President
Traffic Safety Devices, Inc.
Post Office Box 26716
Elkins Park, PA 19027

Dear Mr. Wasserstrom:

In your October 30 letter to Mr. Richard Powers of my staff, you requested Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) acceptance of a modification to the ROADGUARD Highway Assembly previously accepted by Mr. Dwight A. Horne in his August 5, 1998 letter to you (B-34C).  This modification eliminated the single-piece 5/16-inch thick by 2-1/2-inch wide steel straps used to support both 2-inch diameter Schedule 40 steel pipes and attach them through the sides of the barrier.  Instead, the upper and lower pipes are now attached independently through the plastic barrier using one-inch diameter bolts through angled steel brackets 3/8-inch thick by 2-inches wide welded to the pipes.  The upper bolt is 12-inches long.  The lower one is 21.5-inches long and has a 25-degree bend at its midpoint.  The connection of the pipe rails at the joints is identical to the previously accepted design, as are the overall dimensions of the plastic barrier segments.  Details of the modified design are shown as an enclosure to this letter.

Because the only significant difference from your current ROADGUARD design is the method of attaching the pipes to the barrier, the modified design can be considered equivalent and may be used on the National Highway System (NHS) as an National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report (NCHRP) 350 test level 3 traffic barrier.  However, since this attachment detail has not been crash tested, I recommend that an informal in-service evaluation be conducted to verify satisfactory field performance.  Chapter 7 of NCHRP Report 350 outlines the requirements for an appropriate in-service evaluation of roadside hardware. 

Please note that the following standard provisions apply to this letter of acceptance:

As noted in the title block on the enclosed drawing, you now wish to call the pipe assembly a "safety assembly" rather than a "highway assembly".  Regardless of the nomenclature, the ROADGUARD units alone are not acceptable for use on the NHS as barriers, barricades, or delineators unless they have been successfully crash tested without the pipes.

Sincerely yours,

                                                                        /Original signed by/

John R. Baxter, P.E.
Director, Office of Safety Design
Office of Safety

Enclosure


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