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                Safety Eligibility Letter WZ-266
  
  **Hardware Type:**
            Work Zone Devices
                          **Code:**
            WZ-266
                          **Date:**
            01/24/2008
                          **Testing Criteria:**
            NCHRP 350
                          **Manufacturer:**
            Pennsylvania DOT
                          **Device Description:**
            Portable sign stands X and H bases
                          **View PDF:**
            wz266.pdf (7.25 MB)
    
    
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. 20590January 24, 2008
**In Reply Refer To: HSSD/WZ-266**
Mr. Andrew Markunas, P.E.
Manager, Work Zone Traffic Control Section
Bureau of Highway Safety and Traffic Engineering
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
400 North    Street
Harrisburg,   PA 17120

Dear  Mr. Markunas:
In your letters of December 1 and  December 20, 2007, you requested the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA)  acceptance of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) H-base  and X-base portable sign stands as a crashworthy traffic control device for use  in work zones on the National Highway System (NHS). Accompanying your letter was the FHWA Office  of Safety Design form that included a drawing and a detailed description of the  sign stands, test report, and videos of the crash tests and LS-DYNA crash  simulations. The drawings and detailed descriptions  are enclosed with the acceptance form for the H-base and 
  X-base portable sign stands. You requested that we find these sign stands  acceptable for use on the NHS under the provisions of National Cooperative  Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 "Recommended Procedures for  the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features".
This letter is the acknowledgement of the FHWA's  acceptance of your requests. The  original completed forms have been modified by the addition of the FHWA  acceptance letter number, the date of our review, and minor editorial changes. The form will be posted on our website in the  near future.
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-266, 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.
  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,
David A. Nicol
David A.  Nicol    
Director,  Office of Safety Design
Office of  SafetyEnclosures
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