U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
US Department of Transportation
Subject: ACTION: E- Plus W-Beam Guardrail Terminal
Date: October 10, 2014
From: Tony Furst
Associate Administrator for Safety
To: Division Administrators
Division of Field Services
In June 2014, in response to several inquiries from State Departments of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Safety issued a memorandum regarding the Federal-aid eligibility of the ET-Pius w-beam guardrail end terminal manufactured by Trinity Highway Products (Trinity). This memorandum updates the 2014 memorandum to advise you about several recent developments.
Background
In general, FHWA's eligibility letters confirm that roadside safety hardware was crash tested to the relevant criteria, that those crash test results were presented to FHWA, and that FHWA confirmed that the device met the relevant crash test criteria.
Each Highway Agency must make its own determination regarding the installation and continued use of any roadside safety hardware based on field conditions and may place limits on use based on its interpretation oftest results, additional testing, in-service evaluations, or other reasons. Highway Agency determinations regarding the installation of roadside safety hardware and conduct of in-service perfom1ance evaluations are addressed in the two attached memoranda from FHWA's Office of Safety.
Recent Developments
The Missouri and Massachusetts Departments of Transportation suspended the ET-Pius from their qualified products lists pending further examination of the field performance of these end terminals. These suspensions are local decisions and not the result of instructions from the FHWA
Ongoing Activity
The FHWA is working with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Transportation Research Board to develop and conduct a comprehensive evaluation of different categories of roadside safety hardware end treatments through the National Cooperative Highway Research Program.
Action and Request for Information
FHWA requests information from State DOTs regarding the performance of the ET-Plus in the field. Please immediately contact your State DOTs and advise them of these recent developments, ask that they pay particular attention to all crashes involving these devices, and request that any findings from their investigations be shared with the FHWA Office of Safety. As more information becomes available, it will be shared with you and with all States.
Attachments
Memorandum: INFORMATION: In-service Performance Evaluation and Continuous Monitoring of Roadside Safety Features
