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                Safety Eligibility Letter WZ-230
  
  **Hardware Type:**
            Work Zone Devices
                          **Code:**
            WZ-230
                          **Date:**
            03/16/2007
                          **Testing Criteria:**
            NCHRP 350
                          **Manufacturer:**
            Davidson Plastics Corp.
                          **Device Description:**
            Portable Sign Stand, Vertical Panel
                          **View PDF:**
            wz230.pdf (1.69 MB)
    
    
Skip to contentSkip to contentUnited States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway AdministrationDOT logo
U.S. Department of Transportation
**Federal Highway Administration**
400 Seventh St., S.W.
Washington, D.C.  20590**March 16, 2007**


**Refer to: HSSD/WZ-230**

Mr. Peter Speer
Davidson Traffic Control Products
Filtrona Extrusion, Inc.
3110 70th Avenue East
Tacoma, WA  98424
Dear Mr. Speer :
Thank you for your letter requesting the Federal Highway  Administration (FHWA) acceptance of your company's Green Cross in-street delineators, made up of an FG 300 PE post with one or two signs  attached and mounted on a 10 or 20 pound portable rubber base as a crashworthy  traffic control device for use in work zones on the National Highway System  (NHS). Accompanying your letter was a drawing of the product and a video of the  informal crash testing conducted.  You've requested we find the device 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."
The Green Cross in-street delineator is comprised of the  following components. The lightest  combination is as follows:**Component**
**Composition/Brand**
**Dimensions (inches)**
**Weight**
**Quantity**12 x 12 inch Flex sign
Roll-up sign substrate
12 x 12 x 0.08 thick
0.3 lbs
1-2 eachFG 342 PE post
Low Density polyethylene
3 x 2 x 42 tall x 0.15 thick
1.7 lbs.
1 eachFG 300 round base
Recycled Rubber
12 in. round x 2 in. tall
10 lbs.
1 eachThe heaviest combination is as follows:
**Component**
**Composition/Brand**
**Dimensions/Notes**
**Weight**
**Quantity**12 x 36 inch R1-6 sign
Roll-up sign substrate
12 x 36 x 0.08 thick
2.0 lbs.
1 -2 eachFG 342 PE post
Low Density polyethylene
3 x 2 x 42 tall x 0.15 thick
1.7 lbs.
1 eachFG 300 20 lb. base
Recycled Rubber
12 in. round x 2 in. tall
20 lbs.
1 eachThe components listed above are assembled into a complete  portable sign as shown in the enclosed drawing. As you describe, the FG 300 post is friction fitted into the  rubber base. The small signs are  attached to the post with two pop rivets per sign; the larger signs are attached  with 1⁄4 inch molly-jack nuts. Mountable  signs allowed include either flexible roll-up sign material, 1/8 inch  Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) or 1/8 inch Ultra High Molecular Weight  (UHMW) polyethylene.
In  support of your request, you submitted informal crash test video for FHWA  review. The crash tests were conducted  on two configurations of your Green Cross in-street delineators, one with a  flexible 12 x 36 inch roll up sign and one with a rigid 14 x 24 ABS plastic  sign. Both signs were fitted into the  20 pound rubber base. When impacted,  the posts with signs detached from the base and were carried forward in the  direction of the vehicle path. The  signs remained attached to the post.
The  FHWA has routinely accepted hazard marker panels, up to and including an 18  inch by 18  inch panel, without testing. Based on  our review of the crash video submitted, your portable delineator device with  mounted ABS or UHMW signs has been successfully crash tested. Therefore, we will accept your company's request  to use the Green Cross in-street delineators, made up of an FG 300 PE post with  one or two signs attached and mounted on a 10 or 20 pound portable rubber base  as a crashworthy traffic control device for use in work zones on the NHS under  the range of conditions tested. The  range of conditions tested includes an overall maximum of 432 square inches of  total sign area (12 x 36 inches) using up to two ABS or UHMW signs mounted on  one FG 342 PE post.
Please note the following standard provisions that apply to the  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 the  FHWA and the NCHRP Report 350.

To prevent misunderstanding by others, this letter of  acceptance, designated as number WZ-230,  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 Green Cross in-street delineator device described  above is patented and 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 by a highway agency* for use on Federal-aid 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.

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,

**/original signed by /**
John R. Baxter, P.E.
Director, Office of Safety Design
Office of Safety

Enclosure
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