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                Safety Eligibility Letter B-160
  
  **Hardware Type:**
            Longitudinal Barriers and Bridge Rails
                          **Code:**
            B-160
                          **Date:**
            05/08/2007
                          **Testing Criteria:**
            NCHRP 350
                          **Manufacturer:**
            Barrier Systems
                          **Device Description:**
            BarrierGuard 800 (Variable Length Barrier)
                          **View PDF:**
            b160.pdf (1013.34 KB)
    
    HSSD/B-160


DOT logo
U.S. Department of Transportation
**Federal Highway Administration**
400 Seventh St., S.W.
Washington, D.C.  20590May 8, 2007
In Reply Refer To:  
HSSD/B-160

Mr.  Owen S. Denman, PE
President  and CEO
Barrier  Systems Inc.
180 River Road 
Rio Vista, CA 94571-1208
	
Dear Mr. Denman:
Thank  you for your letter of December 18, 2006, requesting the Federal Highway  Administration (FHWA) acceptance of your company's **BarrierGuardTM 800 (BG 800) – Variable Length Barrier** (BGVLB) for use on the National Highway System (NHS) under the provisions of the  National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350  "Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway  Features". Accompanying your letter  were crash test reports on testing of your company's BarrierGuardTM  800 system in regular and minimum deflection applications and test reports on the  Reactive Tension System (RTS) and Quickchange Moveable Barrier (QMB) systems of  April 2000, including results of the NCHRP 350 test 3-11 conducted to evaluate  the performance of a concrete RTS Variable Length Barrier section under direct  impact conditions.
**Requirements** 
Longitudinal  barrier systems should meet the guidelines contained in the NCHRP Report 350,  "Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway  Features". FHWA Memorandum “Action:  Identifying Acceptable Highway Safety Features” of July 25, 1997 provides  further guidance on crash testing of longitudinal barriers.
**Product  description**
  The previously approved BarrierGuardTM  800 systems (FHWA acceptance letters B-131 and B-158) are high containment and low deflection steel  barriers designed for both permanent applications and temporary use in roadwork  situations, preventing penetration of errant vehicles into working areas. The modifications of the system (the use of  intermediate anchoring along with T-tops) allow lowering the deflection from  maximum 1000 mm in regular BarrierGuardTM 800 system to  approximately 300 mm in BarrierGuardTM 800 Minimum Deflection  applications. BarrierGuardTM 800 Variable Length  Barrier is designed to provide clearance and flexibility for expansion joints  on bridges, overpasses, and roadways. The BGVLB is designed to be used with regular and minimum deflection applications of  BarrierGuardTM 800 system when it is anchored to a bridge deck (or  other highway feature) on both sides of a structural expansion joint. The BGVLB allows slow relative movement for  conditions such as thermal expansion/contraction, bridge joint movement, etc.,  but hydraulically locks when the movement is fast, such as during a vehicle impact with the barrier. Each BGVLB provides 355 mm (14") of  travel. The units are deployed with a  nominal length of 1.6 m (63") and are capable of extending or retracting 178 mm (7"). Multiple BGVLB units can be attached to each  other in order to obtain greater movement across a highway expansion  joint. The BGVLB is always used with the  T-Top used to aid in the redirection and stability of the vehicle after impact.  If used with BarrierGuardTM  800 Minimum Deflection system, BGVLB can be located between either 6-meter or  12-meter sections but there should be no foundation anchors within 6 meters of  either end of the BGVLB attachment. If  used with regular BarrierGuardTM 800, the T-top attachment should be  used for 12 meters on either side of the BGVLB and terminate with a transition  section.
Drawings of the BarrierGuardTM 800 – Variable Length Barrier and  of the T-top transition are  provided in Enclosure 1.
**Testing**
  The  NCHRP Report 350 requires that in order for the length-of-need of longitudinal  barriers to meet the NCHRP Report 350 test level 3 criteria they must  successfully pass tests 3-10 and 3-11 while test S3-10 is optional. However, since your company’s RTS VLB was successfully tested in April  2000, including testing of CRTS VLB under direct impact conditions (FHWA  acceptance letter HSA/B-69), you requested to waive a full crash testing of the  BGVLB. The assumption was that BGVLB  uses the same telescoping mechanisms and will perform similarly to RTS VLB.
We noted the RTS VLB was tested in a concrete  moveable barrier system which is more massive than the steel systems in your  present request. However, we eventually  concluded that the difference in lateral stiffness between the systems in which  the VLB will be used would not significantly affect the performance and, most  importantly, it is unlikely that its lap will cause snagging of the impacting  vehicles under direct impact conditions.
Therefore, I concur that BarrierGuardTM 800 – Variable  Length Barrier, as described above,  meets the appropriate evaluation criteria for the NCHRP 350 test level 3  longitudinal barriers and may be used at all appropriate locations on the NHS  when selected by the contracting authority, subject to the provisions of Title  23, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 635.411 as they pertain to proprietary  products. Since no testing was conducted on the BGVLB, I encourage you to  monitor its in-service performance and report to me any issues found.
The  BGVLB is accepted to be used with different applications of BarrierGuardTM  800, including regular BarrierGuardTM  800, BarrierGuardTM 800 - Minimum Deflection and BarrierGuardTM  800 Gate applications. This acceptance  is based on the reported crash performance of the BarrierGuardTM  800 – Variable Length Barrier system  and is not intended to address the 
  long-term durability of the unit. Further, I am assuming that production models  will be identical to the prototype test units.
**Standard provisions**
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.
  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 B-160 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 BarrierGuardTM 800 - Variable  Length Barrier (BGVLB) is a  patented product and considered proprietary. 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.
  Since BarrierGuardTM 800 - Variable  Length Barrier is a steel product, the provisions of Title 23, Code of Federal  Regulations Section 635.410 (a copy of which is enclosed) are 
  applicable. Note that the “Buy America” provisions apply  only to steel products that are 
  permanently incorporated into  highway projects, not to temporary barriers used only during 
  construction or maintenance  operations
  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.Sincerely yours,
			Signature of George E. Rice, Jr.
			George E.  Rice, Jr.
Acting  Director, Office of Safety Design
Office  of SafetyEnclosures U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

**Federal Highway Administration**

1200 NEW JERSEY AVENUE, SE

WASHINGTON, DC 20590

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