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                Safety Eligibility Letter WZ-103A
  
  **Hardware Type:**
            Work Zone Devices
                          **Code:**
            WZ-103A
                          **Date:**
            03/06/2002
                          **Testing Criteria:**
            NCHRP 350
                          **Manufacturer:**
            Eastern Metal/USA Sign
                          **Device Description:**
            Additional signs on tested stands [Supercedes, not supplements, WZ-103, dated 1-1-2001]
                          **View PDF:**
            wz103a.pdf (173.07 KB)
    
    
Skip to contentSkip to contentUnited States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway AdministrationDOT logo
U.S. Department of Transportation
**Federal Highway Administration**
1200 New Jersey Ave. S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590July 23, 2007
**In Reply Refer To: WZ-103A (REVISED)**
Mr. Jan Miller 
Eastern Metal/USA Sign
1430 Sullivan Street 
Elmira, NY 14901-1698

Dear Mr. Miller :
Thank you for your letter of November 19, 2001, amended via  facsimile on December 19, 2001, requesting the Federal Highway Administration  (FHWA) acceptance of a number of your company’s portable signs and stands as crashworthy traffic control devices for  use in work zones on the National Highway System (NHS). You requested that we find these devices  acceptable for use on the NHS under the provisions of the National Cooperative  Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 “Recommended Procedures for the  Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features” based on prior crash testing  of your devices and interpolation of results.
**Introduction**
  The FHWA guidance on crash testing of work zone traffic  control devices is contained in two memoranda.  The first, dated July 25, 1997, titled “INFORMATION: Identifying  Acceptable Highway Safety Features,” established four categories of work zone  devices: Category I devices were those lightweight devices which could be self-certified  by the vendor, Category II devices were other lightweight devices which needed  individual crash testing, Category III devices were barriers and other fixed or  massive devices also needing crash testing, and Category IV devices were  trailer mounted lighted signs, arrow panels, etc. The second guidance memorandum was issued on  August 28, 1998, and is titled “INFORMATION: Crash Tested Work Zone  Traffic Control Devices.” This later  memorandum lists devices that are acceptable under Categories I, II, and III.
A brief description of your requests follows:
Request 1. X-602  Hi-level Spring Stand with frangible coupling, for use with 48 inch diamond, 
  48 x 60 inch and other sized signs of 0.100 and 0.125 inch  thick solid aluminum substrates, and hollow-core 5/8 inch thick, blow molded HD  Polyethylene substrate with waffle pattern tack-offs and radius corners, as  furnished by the Stabler Companies, mounted at the tested height of 
60 inches above grade.
The X-602 stand was accepted in our letter WZ-78A dated June  15, 2001. It was tested with 
  48 x 48 diamond signs of 0.080 aluminum and 5/8 inch plywood  mounted at 60 inches. The tested signs  weighed 18 pounds and 30 pounds respectively.  This range brackets the weights of the signs you are presently requesting  for use with this stand: 22.6 pounds (0.100 inch thick) and 
28.25 pounds (0.0125 inch thick). The high density polyethylene (HDPE)  substrate has not been crash tested, but because its properties are within the  bounds of the plywood and the Endurance substrates, both of which have been  successfully crash tested on this stand, it will be acceptable for use.
Because this stand performed in an acceptable manner due in  large part to the frangible coupling we concur that the three requested signs  will also be acceptable for use.
Request 2. Type III  Barricade with reinforced plastic posts or perforated square steel tube post  and skid system, using Semi-Rigid plastic plank rails. To be used with 48 x 48, 60 x 48 and smaller  signs of Roll-up, corrugated plastic, hollow-core 5/8 inch thick, blow molded  HD Polyethylene substrate with waffle pattern tack-offs and radius corners as  furnished by the Stabler Companies, Endurance, and 0.080 inch aluminum panels  mounted to lengthened accepted post system 60 inches or more above grade, above  the 3-barricade rails.
Testing was conducted by others on type III barricades. Generic Type III barricades and acceptable  signs to be mounted are covered in our acceptance letter WZ-85 dated 
  November 15, 2001, a copy of which is enclosed. It permits the use of lightweight substrate  signs attached to the face of the barricade, but not aluminum or plywood. Your request, however, is for aluminum signs  (and the lightweight signs) mounted above the top rail. We concur in the use of these substrates and  different shapes as long as the height to the top of the sign is kept at 128  inches (this is the height to the top of a 48 x 48 mounted at 60 inches above  the pavement).
Request 3. E-350  Heavy Duty Tripod Stand with 48 x 48 diamond and smaller signs of 5/8 inch  plywood, 0.100 and 0.125 solid aluminum, and hollow-core 5/8 inch thick, blow  molded 
  HD Polyethylene substrate with waffle pattern tack-offs and  radius corners, as furnished by the Stabler Companies.
  The E-350 was accepted in our letter WZ-78A with various  substrates, mounted at 15 inches above the pavement, the heaviest of which was  the hinged ABS at 23.25 pounds. Based on  this test series as well as others conducted on various portable sign stands  with the full range of sign substrates, we observed that the weight and erratic  performance of the hinged solid ABS material qualifies this item as the “worst  case” substrate. Your request is to use  5/8 inch plywood 
(30 pounds), 0.125 aluminum (28.25 pounds), and 0.100 aluminum  (22.6 pounds). We concur with your  request for acceptance of additional substrates based on the successful crash  testing of the “worst case” impact performance hinged 0.250 inch hinged solid  ABS plastic in addition to various rigid and semi-rigid substrates.
Request 4a. X-550  series mid-size stands with hollow-core 5/8 inch thick, blow molded 
  HD Polyethylene substrate with waffle pattern tack-offs and  radius corners, as furnished by the Stabler Companies.
The X-550 stands (Model X-552, Model X-553) have been crash  tested with various substrates that bracket the weight and rigidity properties  of the HDPE substrate, therefore it will be acceptable for use under the same  conditions and mounting heights (15 inches) as the other substrates were tested.
Request 4. The X-550  Series stand has been successfully tested with 0.080 aluminum and found  acceptable in the FHWA acceptance letter WZ-78A. The X-550b stand includes a frangible aluminum  mast that is similar in design and performance to another manufacturer’s  mid-height breakaway stand that was successfully tested with 0.080 aluminum and  acceptance was extrapolated to include 15 mm (5/8 inch thick) plywood. Your request is for acceptance of the X-550b stand with 5/8 inch plywood, 0.100  aluminum and 0.125 aluminum. Successful  tests conducted on the X-600 Series with plywood and other substrates indicate  the significant contribution of the Frangible Mast System. By integrating this feature into the X-550  Series you believe that the performance of this system will be comparable to  the other manufacturer’s 
  mid-sized dual spring breakaway sign stand currently  accepted for use with various rigid and semi-rigid substrates.
Clearly the safer, lighter weight substrates ought to be  used in any mid-height stand. However,  in order to promote a level playing field among similar product manufacturers,  we will consider the use of 5/8 inch plywood on the X-550b stand as acceptable  but marginal. Substrates of 
  0.100 aluminum are also acceptable. However because of reservations regarding  weight and thickness of the thicker 0.125 inch aluminum, we are withholding  acceptance of the stand with that material.
**Findings**
  Your requests 1), 2), 3), 4a), and 4) are acceptable as you  asked with the exception of 0.125 aluminum in Request 4.  Request 4 concerning the 5/8 plywood is considered acceptable but  marginal.
The devices described above are acceptable for use on the  NHS under the range of conditions tested, or under the extrapolation conditions  discussed above in your four requests, when proposed by a State.**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-103A 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  devices described above are patented products 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.
  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,
George E. Rice
George E. Rice, Jr.
Acting Director, Office of Safety Design
Office of SafetySafety Home | FHWA Home | Feedback
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