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                Safety Eligibility Letter SS-87
  
  **Hardware Type:**
            Sign Supports, Mailboxes, and Delineator Posts
                          **Code:**
            SS-87
                          **Date:**
            06/06/2000
                                  **Manufacturer:**
            Ericsson Manufacturing
                          **Device Description:**
            Precast Concrete Foundation for Small Sign Supports
                          **View PDF:**
            ss87.pdf (1.59 MB)
    
    
United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway AdministrationJune 6, 2000
  Refer to: HSA-1 / SS-87
  Ms. Kristina Ericsson
    Partner, Ericsson Manufacturing
    3521 Pearkes Place
    Port Coquitlam, British Columbia V3B5E4
    CANADA
  Dear Ms. Ericsson:
  This is to follow up our February 17 e-mail message 
    and your April 13 reply regarding your company's concrete sign foundations. 
    In our message we agreed to consider the concrete foundations for use with 
    perforated square steel tube (PSST) sign posts where breakaway sign support 
    systems are required. Requirements for breakaway supports are those in the 
    American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Standard 
    Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires and Traffic 
    Signals. Crash testing of breakaway supports is covered in the National 
    Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)Report 350, Recommended Procedures 
    for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features.
  The Ericsson Conical Concrete Footing is 457 
    mm (18 inches high), 152 mm (6 inches) square at the top, and 229 mm (9 inches) 
    square at the bottom. Its mass is 37 kg with a coated square double sleeve. 
    The 64 mm (2.5-inch) sleeve is doubled at the top and extends 38 m (1.5 inches) 
    above the top of the footing to allow room for a bolt to secure the signpost 
    to the foundation.
  Single PSST sign supports have been found acceptable 
    for use when embedded directly into the soil, when placed in anchors consisting 
    of larger size square steel tubes, and when placed in certain proprietary 
    foundation systems. Because of the acceptable performance of single PSST posts 
    in a variety of foundations, we find that your company's conical (actually 
    pyramidal), concrete foundation, as shown in the enclosed drawings, is acceptable 
    for use on the National Highway System when used in typical standard soil 
    with 51-mm (2.0 inch) square, 10 gage wall PSST sign supports. They may also 
    be used with PSST supports of 12 gage wall thickness and/or with smaller overall 
    dimensions.
  Use of your company's concrete foundation in 
    NCHRP Report 350 "weak" soil, in multiple installations (posts closer 
    than 2.1 meters apart) or with other sign supports should be verified through 
    crash testing.
  Our acceptance is limited to the crashworthiness 
    characteristics of the sign foundation and does not cover its structural features. 
    Presumably, you will supply potential users with sufficient information on 
    design and installation requirements to ensure proper performance. We anticipate 
    that the States will require certification from Ericsson Mfg., that the hardware 
    furnished has essentially the same chemistry, mechanical properties, and geometry 
    as that submitted for acceptance, and that sign supports using it will meet 
    the crashworthiness requirements of Federal Highway Administration and NCHRP 
    Report 350. To prevent misunderstanding by others, this letter of acceptance, 
    designated as number SS-87, shall not be reproduced except in full.
  Sincerely yours,
  [Original signed 
    by Frederick G. Wright, Jr.]
    Frederick G. Wright, Jr.
    Program Manager, Safety
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