Federal-aid eligibility letters written by FHWA are not required in order for a State DOT to install the device on any road and are not required for the State DOT to receive Federal-aid reimbursement for that device. FHWA issues these letters as a service to the State DOTs. If an interested party (submitter) wants a Federal-aid reimbursement eligibility letter from FHWA, then it must comply with the process described in the documents below:

Eligibility Process

• An open letter to all in the highway safety hardware and roadside design community clarifying the process to obtain an eligibility letter for cable barrier systems – 02/09/21
• An open letter to all in the highway safety hardware and roadside design community – April 8, 2019
• Eligibility of Crash Cushion devices (Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) 16 sunset date) – 12/20/2018 – This memorandum is to provide guidance to the FHWA Division Offices on the eligibility of National Cooperative Highway Research Program 350 (NCHRP 350) compliant crash cushions on the National Highway System (NHS) in the absence of an acceptable American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) MASH 16 compliant crash cushion
• Existing Roadside Safety Hardware Eligibility Letters Affected by May 26, 2017 Memorandum – This memo updates FHWA Division Offices on the FHWA implementation of process changes described in FHWA letter "An open letter to all in the highway safety hardware and roadside design community" dated May 26, 2017.
• Evaluating a State DOT's Process to Determine Roadside Safety Hardware Crashworthiness on the National Highway System (NHS) – April 9, 2018. This memo provides guidance to FHWA Division Offices to assist their evaluation that a State DOT has an acceptable process for determining crashworthiness of roadside safety hardware on the NHS
• An open letter to all in the highway safety hardware and roadside design community – May 26, 2017. This letter informs of important changes to the Federal-aid eligibility process.
• Federal-aid Reimbursement Eligibility Process for Safety Hardware Devices – November 12, 2015. This memo informs of important changes to the Federal-aid eligibility process
• An open letter to all in the highway safety hardware and roadside design community – November 12, 2015. This letter notifies of additional improvements in the process since the May 18 letter on this topic.
• An open letter to all in the highway safety hardware and roadside design community - May 18, 2015 . This letter details FHWA's revised process for issuing Federal-aid eligibility letters for roadside safety hardware systems.
• In-service Performance Evaluation and Continuous Monitoring – November 17, 2005. The memorandum recommends that states monitor the performance of crashworthy roadside safety hardware to assess field performance, considering installation conditions and maintenance history among other factors, by referring to NCHRP Report 490" In Service Performance of Traffic Barriers"

Request Form for Federal Aid Reimbursement Eligibility of Safety Hardware Devices

• Hardware Eligibility Request Forms (Please view using Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari)
  • Request for Federal Aid Reimbursement Eligibility of Safety Hardware Devices
  • Request for Federal Aid Reimbursement Eligibility of Highway Flexible Barriers