November 21, 2006

Refer to: HSA-10/WZ-106A

Mr. Leo J. Yodock, III
President
The Yodock Wall Co., Inc.
1000 Market Street, Suite 14
Bloomsburg, PA 17815

Dear Mr. Yodock :

This letter modifies the previous letter issued February 6, 2002, of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) acceptance of your company's Energy Dispersement Cell Channelizer (EDCC) as a crashworthy traffic control device for use in work zones on the National Highway System (NHS). You requested that we find this device acceptable when used with or without water as ballast as a Test Level 2 (TL-2) device for use on the NHS under the provisions of National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 "Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features."

Submitted with your request is a reference e-mail dated July 26, 2007, from Dr. Dean Alberson, Research Engineer at Texas Transportation Institute. This email states Dr. Alberson's concurrence that some ballast would be the appropriate critical impact test. The FHWA is in agreement that crash testing and evaluation with some ballast is a worst case scenario. Therefore, the FHWA considers the subject product as described and approved by our prior letter, coded WZ-106, also acceptable without water ballast for use on the NHS when proposed by a State. In addition, the Model 2001m EDCC, which is 812 mm (32 inches) tall, will also be acceptable subject to the same conditions and restrictions as the crash-tested Model 2001 EDCC, with or without water ballast.

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

• Our acceptance is limited to the crashworthiness characteristics of the devices and does not cover their structural features, nor conformity with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
• Any changes that may adversely influence the crashworthiness of the device will require a new acceptance letter.
• Should the FHWA discover that the qualification testing was flawed, that in-serviceperformance reveals unacceptable safety problems, or that the device being marketed is
  significantly different from the version that was crash tested, it reserves the right to modify or revoke its acceptance.
• You will be expected to supply potential users with sufficient information on design and installation requirements to ensure proper performance.
• You will be expected to certify to potential users that the hardware furnished has essentially the same chemistry, mechanical properties, and geometry as that submitted for acceptance, and will meet the crashworthiness requirements of the FHWA and the NCHRP Report 350.
• To prevent misunderstanding by others, this letter of acceptance, designated as number WZ-106A shall not be reproduced except in full. This letter, and the test documentation upon which this letter is based, is public information. All such letters and documentation may be reviewed at our office upon request.
• The Yodock Wall plastic safety shape units are patented and considered "proprietary." The use of proprietary work zone traffic control devices in Federal-aid projects is generally of a temporary nature. They are selected by the contractor for use as needed and removed upon completion of the project. Under such conditions they can be presumed to meet requirement "a" given below for the use of proprietary products on Federal-aid projects. On the other hand, if proprietary devices are specified for use on Federal-aid projects, except exempt, non-NHS projects, they: (a) must be supplied through competitive bidding with equally suitable unpatented items; (b) the highway agency must certify that they are essential for synchronization with existing highway facilities or that no equally suitable alternative exists or: (c) they must be used for research or for a distinctive types of construction on relatively short sections of road for experimental purposes. Our regulations concerning proprietary products are contained in Title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 635.411.

Sincerely yours,

/original signed by /

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

Safety Home | FHWA Home | Feedback