February 22, 2002

> HSA-10/CC-69B

Mr. Kaddo Kothmann

President, Road Systems, Inc.

3616 Howard County Airport Road

Big Spring, TX 79720

Dear Mr. Kothmann:

In your January 24 letter to Mr. Frederick G. Wright, Jr., the Federal
Highway Administration's former Program Manager for the Safety Core
Business Unit, you formally requested acceptance of your Box-Beam
Burster Energy Absorbing Terminal Single-Sided Crash Cushion (BEAT-SSCC)
as an NCHRP Report 350 crash cushion at test level 3 (TL-3). To support
your request, you submitted a copy of the Midwest Roadside Safety
Facility's January 7, 2002 test report entitled "Safety Performance
Evaluation of a Single-Sided Crash Cushion," a videotape of the crash
tests that were conducted and drawings and photographs of the BEAT-SSCC.

The BEAT-SSCC is similar in design concept to the BEAT and the BEAT-MT
and is comprised of the following main components:

-   an impact head assembly

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-   a Stage 1 energy absorber (152-mm x 152-mm x 3.2 mm box beam rail)

-   a Stage 2 energy absorber (152-mm x 152-mm x 4.8-mm box-beam rail)

-   eight breakaway steel posts, and

-   a fabricated end section for transitioning the BEAT-SSCC to a New
    Jersey shaped barrier

The BEAT-SSCC is approximately 8.4-m long. The general design features
and layout are shown in the enclosure to this letter. I assume you will
be able to provide detailed drawings and installation guidelines to
interested parties.

The test report states that seven NCHRP Report 350 tests (test numbers
3-30 through 3-35, and 3-39) are normally required to certify the
crashworthiness of a gating terminal or crash cushion. Based on earlier
tests conducted on the Wyoming DOT's box-beam terminal (WYBET) and/or
the BEAT and BEAT-MT box beam terminals and the similarities of these
designs to the BEAT-SSCC, you concluded that tests 3-30, 3-32, 3-33,
3-34, and 3-35 were not needed. My staff reviewed the information you
provided and concurred with your analysis. Test 3-31 was successfully
conducted. Test 3-38, which is identified in Report 350 as being needed
for a nongating device, was run twice, with one impact point at the
beginning of the length of need (approximately 400 mm upstream from post
3) and the second 2.0 m upstream from the rigid New Jersey barrier. In
addition, test 3-39, was also run twice: to test the BEAT-SSCC on its
backside at mid-length in a reverse direction impact and to test the
concrete barrier connection on the front side from the reverse
direction. Summary reports on each of the five tests are included in the
enclosure.

Based on the results of these tests and earlier testing done on the
WYBET, the roadside BEAT, and the BEAT-MT, the BEAT-SSCC, as described
above, may be considered an NCHRP Report 350 crash cushion at test level
3. Consequently, it may be used on the National Highway System (NHS)
when such use is acceptable to the contracting authority. Due to its
single-sided design, the BEAT-SSCC is not appropriate for use at
locations where backside hits towards the rigid concrete barrier are
possible, e.g., in gore areas, nor is it appropriate for use in a narrow
median where backside, opposite direction hits are likely. Test 3-38
demonstrated that the BEAT-SSCC has no significant containment or
re-directional capabilities when struck in this manner. Since it is a
proprietary product, its use on Federal-aid projects, except exempt
non-NHS projects, is subject to the provisions in Title 23, Code of
Federal Regulations, Section 635.411.

Sincerely yours,

(original signed by Michael L. Halladay)

Michael L. Halladay

Acting Program Manager, Safety

Enclosure