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FHWA Home / Safety / Roadway Departure / Safety Eligibility Letter

Safety Eligibility Letter WZ - 318

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U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
400 Seventh St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590

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May 24, 2012

In Reply Refer To: HSST/WZ-318

Kenneth Parrott
Impact Recovery Systems, Inc.
4955 Stout Dr.
San Antonio, Texas  78219

Dear Ms. Bleau:

This letter is in response to your request for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to review a roadside safety system for eligibility for reimbursement under the Federal-aid highway program.

Name of system: Tuff Curb©
Type of system:

Channelizing curb system

Test Level:

MASH Test Level 3

Testing conducted by: Texas Transportation Institute
Date of request: August 10, 2011

           
Decision:
The following device is eligible, with details provided below and in the form which is attached as an integral part of this letter:

Based on a review of crash test results submitted by the manufacturer certifying the device described herein meets the crash test and evaluation criteria of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH), the device is eligible for reimbursement under the Federal-aid highway program.  Eligibility for reimbursement under the Federal-aid highway program does not establish approval or endorsement by the FHWA for any particular purpose or use. 

The FHWA, the Department of Transportation, and the United States Government do not endorse products or services and the issuance of a reimbursement eligibility letter is not an endorsement of any product or service.

Requirements
To be found eligible for Federal-aid funding, roadside safety devices should meet the crash test and evaluation criteria contained in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH).  

Description
Tuff Curb® is a longitudinal channelizing curb system produced by Impact Recovery Systems, Inc.  Tuff Curb® is an injection molded high-density polyethylene curb made up of two halves, each measuring 12 inches wide by 3 ½ inches tall by 20 inches long.  The curb halves interlock and are connected with two 7/16-inch x 1 ½-inch bolts.  Each curb section measures 40 inches long and is anchored with two ½-inch x 4-inch concrete screw anchors or two 5/8-inch x 5-inch plastic sleeve anchors placed into the roadway.  The Tuff Curb® installation begins and ends with a nose end section that measures 12 inches wide by 3 ½ inches tall by 18 inches long at the mating end and is 1 ¾ inches tall at the exposed end.  Each section is anchored by three of the above described anchors.  Tubular delineators with or without attached signage are attached to the center section of the curb. It should be noted that all tests were conducted with vertical road tubes in place.

Eight crash tests were successfully conducted on January 19, 2011 at Texas Transportation Institute in accordance with MASH 3-90 and 3-91.  Four tests were conducted twice, once each with an 1100C small car and 2270P pickup truck.  These tests and their results were as follows:

  1. Traversal of Curb at 25° – Pass – Vehicle stable and no compartment penetration or deformation.
  2. Traversal of Vee - Pass – Vehicle stable and no compartment penetration or deformation
  3. Traversal of Curb at 0° – Pass – Vehicle stable and no compartment penetration or deformation
  4. Lane change maneuver across straight curb section – Pass – Vehicle stable and no compartment penetration or deformation.

Summary and Standard Provisions
Therefore, the system described above and detailed in the attached form is eligible for reimbursement and may be installed under the range of conditions tested.  Please note the following standard provisions that apply to FHWA eligibility letters:

Sincerely yours,

 

Michael S. Griffith
Director, Office of Safety Technologies
Office of Safety

Enclosures

Page last modified on June 24, 2011
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