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                Safety Eligibility Letter B-124
  
  **Hardware Type:**
            Longitudinal Barriers and Bridge Rails
                          **Code:**
            B-124
                          **Date:**
            12/09/2003
                          **Testing Criteria:**
            NCHRP 350
                          **Manufacturer:**
            Creative Pultrusions,Inc.
                          **Device Description:**
            Composite Thrie-beam (SuperRail) @ TL-3
                          **View PDF:**
            b124.pdf (1.07 MB)
    
    Skip to contentUnited States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration
  December 9, 2003
  
  Refer to: HSA-10/B124
  Mr. Shane E. Weyant
    Corporate Sales and Marketing Director
    Creative Pultrusions, Inc.
    214 Industrial Lane
    Alum Bank, PA 15521
  Dear Mr. Weyant:
  In your November 10 letter to Mr. Richard Powers of my staff you requested 
    formal Federal Highway Administration acceptance of a guardrail design that 
    used a composite beam material developed under the DOT Small Business Innovation 
    Research (SBIR) Program in lieu of a galvanized steel beam element. Your 
    design, called the SuperRail Composite Guardrail, was tested to NCHRP Report 
    350 test level 3 (TL-3) by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San 
    Antonio, Texas. Copies of the test reports and a videotape of the two tests 
    that were conducted were included with your letter.
  The SuperRail Composite Guardrail beam element is made via a continuous pultrusion 
    process. Its shape is similar to a standard Thrie-beam rail element as shown 
    in Enclosure 1, but it is composed of fiberglass roving and biaxial fabric 
    layers in a specially formulated resin system. For the test installation, 
    six 25-foot long composite rail sections were butt-spliced using a separate 
    fiberglass vinyl ester composite splice plate and supported on standard W6 
    x 8.5 steel posts on 6 foot-3 inch centers with routed timber blockouts. 
    Mounting height to the top of the rail element was 32 inches.
  NCHRP Report 350 test 3-10 and 3-11 were conducted and documented in the 
    October 2003 SwRI test reports, “Full-Scale Crash Evaluation of a Composite 
    Thrie-Beam Guardrail System – Final Report Test CB-101” and “Full-Scale Crash 
    Evaluation of a Composite Thrie-Beam Guardrail System – Final Report Test 
    CB-102.” In both the small car and the pickup truck tests, the occupant impact 
    velocities (OIVs) and the ridedown accelerations (G's) were below the Report 
    350 preferred values of 9 m/sec and 15 G's, respectively. Maximum dynamic 
    deflection was 787 mm in the pickup truck test and both vehicles were successfully 
    contained and redirected. Based on these test results, the SuperRail Composite 
    Guardrail may be used on the National Highway System as an NCHRP Report 350 
    TL-3 longitudinal barrier when such use is acceptable to the contracting agency. 
    Although tested with steel posts, this rail would also be acceptable for use 
    with standard timber posts and offset blocks. Since the SuperRail can be 
    produced in a variety of colors, it may prove to be popular in locations where 
    an aesthetic barrier is preferred.
  I understand you plan to develop a crashworthy terminal for use with the 
    SuperRail Composite Guardrail. Until such time as a crashworthy end terminal 
    is tested and accepted, the SuperRail must be buried in a backslope with a 
    post and cable terminal as was tested, shielded with a crashworthy impact 
    attenuator, or introduced outside the minimum clear zone selected for the 
    project where the barrier will be used.
  Please note the following special provisions that apply to all FHWA product 
    acceptance letters:
  FHWA acceptance is limited to the crashworthiness 
      characteristics of the SuperRail and does not address long-term durability 
      or life-cycle costs.
    Any design 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 evaluations reveal unacceptable 
      safety problems, or that the device being marketed is significantly different 
      from the version that was crash tested, this acceptance letter may be modified 
      or revoked.
    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 it will 
      meet the crashworthiness requirements of NCHRP Report 350.
    To prevent misunderstanding by others, this letter 
      of acceptance, designated as number B-124 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 SuperRail is a proprietary product. When proprietary 
      devices are specified by a highway agencyfor 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 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. FHWA regulations 
      concerning proprietary products are contained in Title 23, Code of Federal 
      Regulations, Section 635.411, a copy of which is Enclosure 2.Since the SuperRail Composite Guardrail is a new product, I strongly encourage 
    you to conduct in-service performance evaluations of field installations for 
    several years to obtain cost and installation data and information on barrier 
    performance under varied weather and temperature conditions.
  Sincerely yours,
  / original signed by /
  John R. Baxter
     Director, 
    Office of Roadside Design
     Office 
    of Safety
  2 Enclosures
  **Enclosure**
  Sec. 635.411 Material or product selection.
  (a) Federal funds shall not participate, directly or indirectly, 
    in payment for any premium or royalty on any patented or proprietary material, 
    specification, or process specifically set forth in the plans and specifications 
    for a project, unless:
  (1) Such patented or proprietary item is purchased or obtained 
    through competitive bidding with equally suitable unpatented items; or
  (2) The State highway agency certifies either that such patented 
    or proprietary item is essential for synchronization with existing highway 
    facilities, or that no equally suitable alternate exists; or
  (3) Such patented or proprietary item is used for research 
    or for a distinctive type of construction on relatively short sections of 
    road for experimental purposes.
  (b) When there is available for purchase more than one nonpatented, 
    nonproprietary material, semifinished or finished article or product that 
    will fulfill the requirements for an item of work of a project and these available 
    materials or products are judged to be of satisfactory quality and equally 
    acceptable on the basis of engineering analysis and the anticipated prices 
    for the related item(s) of work are estimated to be approximately the same, 
    the PS&E for the project shall either contain or include by reference 
    the specifications for each such material or product that is considered acceptable 
    for incorporation in the work. If the State highway agency wishes to substitute 
    some other acceptable material or product for the material or product designated 
    by the successful bidder or bid as the lowest alternate, and such substitution 
    results in an increase in costs, there will not be Federal‐aid participation 
    in any increase in costs.
  (c) A State highway agency may require a specific material 
    or product when there are other acceptable materials and products, when such 
    specific choice is approved by the Division Administrator as being in the 
    public interest. When the Division Administrator's approval is not obtained, 
    the item will be nonparticipating unless bidding procedures are used that 
    establish the unit price of each acceptable alternative. In this case Federal‐aid 
    participation will be based on the lowest price so established.
  (d) Appendix A sets forth the FHWA requirements regarding 
    (1) the specification of alternative types of culvert pipes, and (2) the number 
    and types of such alternatives which must be set forth in the specifications 
    for various types of drainage installations.
  (e) Reference in specifications and on plans to single trade 
    name materials will not be approved on Federal‐aid contracts.
  
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