January 24, 2008

In Reply Refer To: HSSD/WZ-266

Mr. Andrew Markunas, P.E.
Manager, Work Zone Traffic Control Section
Bureau of Highway Safety and Traffic Engineering
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
400 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Mr. Markunas:

In your letters of December 1 and December 20, 2007, you requested the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) acceptance of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) H-base and X-base portable sign stands as a crashworthy traffic control device for use in work zones on the National Highway System (NHS). Accompanying your letter was the FHWA Office of Safety Design form that included a drawing and a detailed description of the sign stands, test report, and videos of the crash tests and LS-DYNA crash simulations. The drawings and detailed descriptions are enclosed with the acceptance form for the H-base and X-base portable sign stands. You requested that we find these sign stands acceptable 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".

This letter is the acknowledgement of the FHWA's acceptance of your requests. The original completed forms have been modified by the addition of the FHWA acceptance letter number, the date of our review, and minor editorial changes. The form will be posted on our website in the near future.

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

• This 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-service performance 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 that they 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-266, 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.
• If proprietary devices are specified by a highway agency 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 the existing highway facilities or that no equally suitable alternative exists; or (c) they must be used for research or for a distinctive type 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.
• This acceptance letter shall not be construed as authorization or consent by the FHWA to use, manufacture, or sell any patented device for which the applicant is not the patent holder. The acceptance letter is limited to the crashworthiness characteristics of the candidate device, and the FHWA is neither prepared nor required to become involved in issues concerning patent law. Patent issues, if any, are to be resolved by the applicant.

Enclosures

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