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                Safety Eligibility Letter WZ-125
  
  **Hardware Type:**
            Work Zone Devices
                          **Code:**
            WZ-125
                          **Date:**
            11/26/2002
                          **Testing Criteria:**
            NCHRP 350
                          **Manufacturer:**
            Dicke Tool
                          **Device Description:**
            Remainder of Phase VI tested stands.
                          **View PDF:**
            wz125.pdf (518.69 KB)
    
    



November 26, 2002
Refer to: HSA-10/WZ-125
Mr. Grant Dicke
Dicke Tool Company
1201 Warren Avenue
P.O. Box 518
Downers Grove,
Illinois  60515
Dear Mr. Dicke:
Thank you for your letter of March 29, 2002, and facsimile
message of November 21, 2002, requesting Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
acceptance of your company's
portable sign stands as crashworthy traffic control devices for use in work
zones on the National Highway System (NHS). 
Accompanying your letter was a report of crash testing conducted by the
Midwest Roadside Safety Facility.  You
requested that we find these devices 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.”  Most of the sign support
systems that were tested in this phase were reviewed previously and are the
subject of our November 21, 2001, letter to you, designated WZ-99.  This present letter of acceptance, WZ-125,
will only deal with the one remaining sign stand that was tested with
successful 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 AINFORMATION:
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 the devices follows:
Systems 58 and 59, Test No. D-30 DF-4000 Stand - A heavy
duty, double torsion spring mounted portable sign support with a 1219 x 1219 mm
vinyl sign mounted at a height of 305 mm from the ground and with three wood-staffed flags at
a height of 2299 mm. This stand supported
a RUNR48 reflective vinyl roll up sign. 
Tested at both 90 degrees and head-on.
Testing
Full-scale automobile testing was conducted on your company's devices.  Two stand-alone examples of the device were
tested in tandem, one oriented at 90-degrees (i.e., turned away from oncoming
traffic) and the next placed six meters downstream head-on, as called for in
our guidance memoranda.  The complete
device as tested is shown in Enclosure 1. The crash test is summarized in the table below:
Test Number
D-30Test Article
DF-4000
  sign stand with RUNR48 vinyl roll up signHeight to Bottom of Sign
305
  mmHeight to Top of Sign
2013
  mmFlags or lights
3
  flags on wood dowels, 2927 mm to top of flagsTest Article Mass (each)
19.05
  kgVehicle Inertial Mass
812
  kgImpact Speed, Head-on
103.6
  km/hrImpact Speed, 90 Deg.
100.7
  km/hrVelocity Change, Head-on
0.81
  m/sVelocity Change, 90 deg.
Not
  recordedVehicle crush
Dents
  on hood and rear of roofOccupant Compart.Intrusion
NoneWindshield Damage
Minor
  “spider web” cracking plus single crack from top to bottom near center of
  windshield.Findings
Damage was limited to dents, and minor windshield
cracking.  The results of the testing
met the FHWA requirements and, therefore, the devices described above and shown
in the enclosed drawings for reference are acceptable for use on the NHS under
the range of conditions tested, when proposed by a State.
Please note the following standard provisions that apply to
FHWA letters of acceptance:
Our 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 FHWA
and NCHRP Report 350.
To
prevent misunderstanding by others, this letter of acceptance, designated as
number WZ-125 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 Dicke
Tool Company signs may include patented components and if so are considered
"proprietary."  The use of
proprietary work zone traffic control devices in Federal-aid projects is generally
of a temporary nature.  They are
selected by the contractor for use as needed and removed upon completion of the
project.  Under such conditions they can
be presumed to meet requirement "a" given below for the use of
proprietary products on Federal-aid projects. 
On the other hand, if proprietary devices are specified 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 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, a copy of which is enclosed.Sincerely yours,
Carol H. Jacoby,
P.E.

Director,
Office of Safety Design
Enclosure U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

**Federal Highway Administration**

1200 NEW JERSEY AVENUE, SE

WASHINGTON, DC 20590

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