0 

U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Federal Highway 

Administration 

June 3, 2020 

1200 New Jersey Ave., SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

In Reply Refer To: 

HSST-1/WZ-410 

Mr. Henry A. Ross 

Plasticade 

100 Howard Avenue 

Des Plaines, IL 60018 

USA 

Dear Mr. Ross: 

This letter is in response to your February 24, 2020 request for the Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA) to review a roadside safety device, hardware, or system for eligibility for 

reimbursement under the Federal-aid highway program. This FHWA letter of eligibility is 

assigned FHWA control number WZ-410 and is valid until a subsequent letter is issued by 

FHWA that expressly references this device. 

Decision 

The following device is eligible within the length-of-need, with details provided in the form 

which is attached as an integral part of this letter: 

• Plasticade® Safetycade® Type I and Type II Barricade 

Scope of this Letter 

To be found eligible for Federal-aid funding, new roadside safety devices should meet the crash 

test and evaluation criteria contained in the American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials’(AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). 

However, the FHWA, the Department of Transportation, and the United States Government do 

not regulate the manufacture of roadside safety devices. Eligibility for reimbursement under the 

Federal-aid highway program does not establish approval, certification or endorsement of the 

device for any particular purpose or use. 

This letter is not a determination by the FHWA, the Department of Transportation, or the United 

States Government that a vehicle crash involving the device will result in any particular 

outcome, nor is it a guarantee of the in-service performance of this device. Proper 

manufacturing, installation, and maintenance are required in order for this device to function as 

tested. 

This finding of eligibility is limited to the crashworthiness of the system and does not cover other 

structural features, nor conformity with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. 
2 

Eligibility for Reimbursement 

Based solely on a review of crash test results and certifications submitted by the manufacturer, 

and the crash test laboratory, FHWA agrees that the device described herein meets the crash test 

and evaluation criteria of the AASHTO’s MASH. Therefore, the device is eligible for 

reimbursement under the Federal-aid highway program if installed under the range of tested 

conditions. 

Name of system: Plasticade® Safetycade® Type I and Type II Barricade 

Type of system: Work Zone 

Test Level: MASH Test Level 3 (TL3) 

Testing conducted by: Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). 

Date of request: February 24, 2020 

FHWA concurs with the recommendation of the accredited crash testing laboratory on the 

attached form. 

Full Description of the Eligible Device 

The device and supporting documentation, including reports of the crash tests or other testing 

done, videos of any crash testing, and/or drawings of the device, are described in the attached 

form. 

Notice 

This eligibility letter is issued for the subject device as tested. Modifications made to the device 

are not covered by this letter. Any modifications to this device should be submitted to the user 

(i.e., state DOT) as per their requirements. 

You are expected to supply potential users with sufficient information on design, installation and 

maintenance requirements to ensure proper performance. 

You are expected to certify to potential users that the hardware furnished has the same chemistry, 

mechanical properties, and geometry as that submitted for review, and that it will meet the test 

and evaluation criteria of AASHTO’s MASH.

Issuance of this letter does not convey property rights of any sort or any exclusive privilege. This 

letter is based on the premise that information and reports submitted by you are accurate and 

correct. We reserve the right to modify or revoke this letter if: (1) there are any inaccuracies in 

the information submitted in support of your request for this letter, (2) the qualification testing 

was flawed, (3) in-service performance or other information reveals safety problems, (4) the 

system is significantly different from the version that was crash tested, or (5) any other 

information indicates that the letter was issued in error or otherwise does not reflect full and 

complete information about the crashworthiness of the system. 
3 

Standard Provisions 

• To prevent misunderstanding by others, this letter of eligibility designated as FHWA 

control number WZ-410 shall not be reproduced except in full. This letter and the test 

documentation upon which it is based are public information. All such letters and 

documentation may be reviewed upon request. 

• This letter shall not be construed as authorization or consent by the FHWA to use, 

manufacture, or sell any patented system for which the applicant is not the patent holder. 

• This FHW A eligibility letter is not an expression ofany Agency view, position, or 

determination ofvalidity, scope, or ownership of any intellectual property rights to a 

specific device or design. Further, this letter does not impute any distribution or licensing 

rights to the requester. This FHW A eligibility letter determination is made based solely 

on the crash-testing information submitted by the requester. The FHW A reserves the 

right to review and revoke an earlier eligibility determination after receipt of subsequent 

information related to crash testing. 

Sincerely, 

Michael S. Griffith 

Director, Office of Safety Technologies 

Office of Safety 

Enclosures 
I   Resubmissio

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Page 1 of 5 

Request for Federal Aid Reimbursement Eligibility 

of Highway Safety Hardware 

Submitter 

Date of Request: February24,2020 New 

Name: HenryA.Ross 

Company: Plasticade 

Address: 100HowardAvenue,DesPlaines,IL60018 

Country: U.S.A. 

To: Michael S. Griffith, Director 

FHWA, Office of Safety Technologies 

I request the following devices be considered eligible for reimbursement under the Federal-aid 

highway program. 

Device&TestingCriterion-Enter from right to left starting with TestLevel ! -! - ! ! -! -! 

SystemType SubmissionType DeviceName / Variant TestingCriterion Test 

Level 

' 

'

WZ'':CrashWorthyWorkZon 

ZoneTrafficControl Devices 

PhysicalCrashTesting 

Engineering Analysis 

Plasticade®Safetycade® 

TypeIandTypeII 

Barricade 

AASHTOMASH TL3 

By submitting this request for review and evaluation by the Federal Highway Administration, I certify 

that the product(s) was (were) tested in conformity with the AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety 

Hardware and that the evaluation results meet the appropriate evaluation criteria in the MASH. 

Individual or Organization responsible for the product: 

Contact Name: HenryA.Ross SameasSubmitter 

CompanyName: Plasticade SameasSubmitter 

Address: 100Howard Avenue,DesPlaines,IL60018 SameasSubmitter 

Country: U.S.A. SameasSubmitter 

Enter below all disclosures of financial interests as required by the FHWA `Federal-Aid Reimbursement 

Eligibility Process for Safety Hardware Devices' document. 

TexasA&MTransportation Institute(TTI)wascontracted byPlasticade®toperform full-scalecrash testing of the 

Plasticade®Safetycade®Type IandTypeIIBarricade. Therearenoshared financial interests in thePlasticade® 

Safetycade®TypeIandTypeIIBarricade byTTI,or betweenPlasticade®andTTI,other thancostsinvolved in the 

actual crash testsandreportsfor thissubmission toFHWA. 

690900-PLP9&10 
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Page 2 of 5 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION 

TheSafetycade®TypeIandTypeIIBarricade is42.5inchestall, 33 incheswide,and 36 incheslong (base/feet). 

The test article consisted of three main components made from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) plastic 

connected at the bottom with hinges, steel hardware, and aspring in each foot to keep the sign portion 

upright and allow for rotation.Asafetylight (Empco-LiteModel 2006 with fourD-cell batteries)wasattached to 

the top of the testarticle, bringing the total height of the barricadeto 49 inchesto the top of thesafety light. 

Eachbarricadeweigheda total of 35 lb (including 14 lb of internal ballast sand in the feet (7 lb each foot)and 

the3 lb safetylight). 

CRASH TESTING 

Bysignaturebelow, theEngineeraffiliated with the testing laboratory, agreesin support of thissubmission that 

all of the critical and relevant crash tests for this device listed above were conducted to meet the MASH test 

criteria. The Engineer has determined that no other crash testsare necessary to determine the device meets 

theMASH criteria. 

Engineer Name: D.LanceBullard,Jr.,P.E. 

EngineerSignature: 

Address: 3100SH47,Bldg 7091,Bryan,TX,77807 SameasSubmitter 

Country: U.S.A. SameasSubmitter 

D.LanceBullard,Jr. Digitally signed by D.LanceBullard,Jr. 

Date:2020.03.02 08:41:30-06'00' 

I 

  New Hardware or

Significant Modification  Modification toExistingHardware 

I I A brief description of each crash test and its result: 

RequiredTest Narrative Evaluation 

Number Description Results 

MASHstatesthat Test3-70 forsmall 

vehiclesisconsideredoptional for workzone trafficcontrol devicesweighing less 

than 220 lb, because velocity changes 

during low-speed impactswith freestanding, lightweight featureswill be within 

3-70(1100C) acceptable limits. ThePlasticade® Non-Critical,not conducted 

Safetycade®Type I and Type II Barricade 

traffic control device weighed 35 lb 

(including 14 lb of internal ballastsand in 

thefeet (7 lb each foot)and the3 lb safety 

light).Therefore,MASHTest3-70 wasnot 

performed on this trafficcontrol device. 
RequiredTest 

Number 

Narrative 

Description 

Evaluation 

Results 

MASHTest3-71 involved an 1100Cvehicle 

weighing 2420 lb ±55 lb impacting the 

trafficcontrol deviceat an impactspeedof 

62 mi/h ±2.5 mi/h. Per MASH 

recommendations,thedevice wastestedat 

critical impactangles(CIAs)of 90°±1.5°and 

0°±1.5°. 

Theresultsof test690900-PLP9conducted 

onOctober 23,2019arefoundinTTITest 

Report number690900-PLP9&10.Thetest 

vehicle wastravelingat an impactspeedof 

63.7 mi/h when it contacted the first 

barricade at an impact angle of 0°. The 

vehicle wastravelingat an impactspeedof 

62.4 mi/h and impact angle of 90° when it 

contacted thesecondbarrier.Brakeson the 

vehicle were applied after loss of contact 

with the second barricade, and the vehicle 

came to rest 442 ft downstream of the 

impact. The barricades fractured into 

several pieces. For the first barricade, one 

foot came to rest 30 ft downstream of 

impact and 27 ft to the left of the vehicle 

path,and thesecondfoot came to rest84ft 

downstream of impactand9 ft to theright 

of the vehicle path. The panel of the first 

barricade rode along on the front of the 

vehicleand thenslid forwardanadditional 

120 ft andcameto rest562ft downstream 

of impact. For the second barricade, one PAS foot came to rest 100 ft downstream of 

impact and 13 ft to the left of the vehicle 

path. The safety light came to rest 195 ft 

downstream of impactand13ft to theright 

of the vehicle path. The panel and the 

remaining foot came to rest 312 ft 

downstream of impactand15ft to theleft 

of the vehicle path. The front bumper, air 

dam, and hood were damaged. The hood 

sustained an indentation measuring 24 

inches× 32inches× 2.0inchesdeep on the 

driver’s side. There was no damage to the 

windshield. No occupant compartment 

deformation or intrusion wasobserved. 

MASH does not require instrumentation of 

the vehicle when impacting lightweight, 

freestanding work zone traffic control 

devicesweighing lessthan220lb, therefore 

the occupant risk factors were not 

calculated for this test. The Plasticade® 

Safetycade®Type I and Type II Barricade 

eighed 35 lb (including 14 lb of internal 

allast sand in the feet (7 lb each foot) and 

he3 lbsafetylight). 

heSafetycade®TypeIandTypeIIBarricade 

erformed acceptably for MASH test 3-71 

ith impactanglesof 0°and90°. 

3-71(1100C) S 

w

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T

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3-72(2270P) 

MASHTest3-72 involvesa2270Pvehicle 

weighing 5000 lb ±110 lb impacting the 

trafficcontrol deviceat an impactspeedof 

62 mi/h ±2.5 mi/h. Per MASH 

recommendations,the device wastestedat 

critical impactangles(CIAs)of 90°±1.5°and 

0°±1.5°. 

Theresultsof test690900-PLP10conducted 

on October 23, 2019 are found in TTI Test 

Report number 690900-PLP9&10. The test 

vehicle wastravelingat an impactspeedof 

63.1 mi/h when it contacted the first 

barricade at an impact angle of 0°. The 

vehicle wastravelingat an impactspeedof 

62.5 mi/h and impact angle of 90° when it 

contacted thesecondbarrier.Brakeson the 

vehicle were applied after loss of contact 

with the second barricade, and the vehicle 

came to rest 420 ft downstream of the 

impact and 13 ft to the left of the vehicle 

path.Onefoot of the first barricadecameto 

rest 2 ft downstream of impact and 5 ft to 

the right of the vehicle path, and the 

remainder of the barricade came to rest 60 

ft downstream of impactand 12 ft to theleft 

of the vehicle path. One foot from the 

second barricade came to rest 208 ft 

downstream of impact, and the remainder 

came to rest 345 ft downstream of impact 

and 24 ft to the left of thevehicle path.The 

front bumper, grill, and hood were 

damaged. The hood sustained two small 

areasof deformation.Therewasno damage 

to the windshield. No occupant 

compartment deformation or intrusion was 

observed. 

MASH does not require instrumentation of 

the vehicle when impacting lightweight, 

freestanding work zone traffic control 

devicesweighing lessthan 220 lb, therefore 

the occupant risk factors were not 

calculated for this test. The Plasticade® 

Safetycade®Type I and Type II Barricade 

weighed 35 lb (including 14 lb of internal 

ballast sand in the feet (7 lb each foot) and 

the3 lb safetylight). 

TheSafetycade®TypeIandTypeIIBarricade 

performed acceptably for MASH test 3-72 

with impactanglesof 0°and90°. 

PASS 
Version 10.0 (05/16) 

Page 5 of 5 

Full Scale Crash Testing was done in compliance with MASH by the following accredited crash test 

laboratory (cite the laboratory’s accreditation status as noted in the crash test reports.): 

Laboratory Name: TexasA&MTransportation Institute 

LaboratorySignature: Digitally signed by DarrellL.Kuhn 

'Date:2020.02.2816:45:20-06'00 

Address: 3100SH47,Bldg 7091,Bryan,TX,77807 SameasSubmitter 

Country: U.S.A SameasSubmitter  Accreditation Certificate

Number and Dates of current 

Accreditation period : 

ISO17025-2017Laboratory 

A2LACertificate Number:2821.01 

ValidTo:April 30,2021 

DigitallysignedbyHenryRoss 

Date:2020.03.0316:25:30 

-06'00' 

SubmitterSignature*: HenryRoss

ATTACHMENTS 

Attach to this form: 

1) Additional disclosures of related financial interest as indicated above. 

2) A copy of the full test report, video, and a Test Data Summary Sheet for each test conducted in 

support of this request. 

3) A drawing or drawings of the device(s) that conform to the Task Force-13 Drawing Specifications 

[Hardware Guide Drawing Standards]. For proprietary products, a single isometric line drawing is 

usually acceptable to illustrate the product, with detailed specifications, intended use, and contact 

information provided on the reverse. Additional drawings (not in TF-13 format) showing details that 

are relevant to understanding the dimensions and performance of the device should also be submitted 

to facilitate our review. 

FHWA Official Business Only: 

Eligibility Letter 

Number Date Key Words 
0 

O... { ___, 

l-n-__j JS. nft~J•tq h:m)N¥'9 

General Test Vehicle Post-Impact Trajectory Information 

Test Agency..... .... Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Type/Designation ..... 1100C Stopping Distance .. ................... 442 ft downstream 

Test Standard Test No... ... MASH Test 3-71 at 0° and 90° Make and Model ......... ..... 2008 Kia Rio 

TTI Test No. ........ 690900-PLP9 Curb ......... 2465 lb Maximum Test Debris Scatter 

Test Inertial ... .......... 2424 lb Barricade #1 ..... .. .. 562 ft downstream 

Dummy..... .. .. 165 lb 30 ft-84 ft downstream 

Test Artiele 

Test Date.. ........ 2019-10-23 

Gross Static....... .... 2589 lb Barricade #2 ... ..... 27 ft left/9 ft right 

0.000 s 0.100 s 0.300 s 0.400 s

w 

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Type ...... . Work-Zone Traffic Control Device -

Type I and Type II Barricade 

Name..... ... Plasticade® Safetycade® Type I & Type II 

Installation Height/Weight ... 49 inches/ 35 lb (both include light) 

Material or Key Elements ... HOPE feet, HOPE boards, safety light, 

and 7-lb ballast sand in each foot 

N Soil Type and Condition ...... Concrete pavement, damp 0 

N 

0 

I 

0 

N 

Impact Conditions 

Speed Barricade #1 ....... 63 .7mi/h 

Angle Barricade #1 .... ...... 0° 

Speed Barricade #2 .. ... 62.4 mi/h 

Angle Barricade #2 .......... 90° 

Kinetic Energy #1 & #2 .. ... 329 & 316 kip-ft 

Exit Conditions 

Speed Barricade #1 ... 62.4 mi/h 

Speed Barricade #2 ...... 60.3 mi/h 

100 ft-312 ft downstream/1 5 ft left/13 ft right 

Vehicle Damage 

VOS ............. ............ 12FD1 

CDC 12FDEN1 

Max. Exterior Deformation ......... 2.0 inch 

OCDI .......................................... FSOOOOOOO 

Max. Occupant Compartment 

Deformation................ None 

Windshield Damage .. .. None 

Figure 5. 7. Summary ofResults for MASHTest 3-71 at 0° and 90° on Safetycade® Type I and Type II Barricades w 

I 
0 

l,C) 

i 

I 

rn::l I 

0.000 s 0.100 s 

H 

0.300 s 

., 

i 

f 

I ~ 

~ 121➔ X 2~'W 

== ij 8'H, 24-W 

I.-- jJ' __j 35• ncbJ.-i,Jhar!.M3le 

0.500 s 

General Test Vehicle Post-Impact Trajectory Information 

Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TT\) Type/Designation ............. 2270P Stopping Distance ............ 420 ft downstream Test Agency .. 

Test Standard Test No. MASH Test 3-72 at 0° and 90' Make and Model.. . ... 2014 RAM 1500 

TT\ Test No. .. 690900-PLP10 Curb ............................... . 4977 lb Maximum Test Debris Scatter 

Test Date .... 2019-10-23 Test Inertial .......... . . .. 5065 \b Barricade # 1 ... .. 2 ft-60 ft downstream 

Dummy ............. . .... . No dummy 12 left I 5 ft right 

Gross Static ........ . . ... . 5065 lb Barricade #2 ..... 208 ft-345 ft downstream 

Type . Work-Zone Traffic Control Device - Impact Conditions 24 ft left 

Type I and Type II Barricade Speed Barricade #1 .. 63.1 mi/h Vehicle Damage 

. Plasticade® Safetycade® Type I & Type II Angle Barricade #1 ... . .. 0° VDS ........ ... ..... .............. ............ 12FD1 

Test Article 

Name 

Barricade Speed Barricade #2 ........ 62.5 mi/h CDC..... . ... 12FDEW1 

Installation Height/Weight .. 49 inches/ 35 lb (both include light) Angle Barricade #2 ....... ... 90° Max. Exterior Deformation . ........ Insignificant 

Material or Key Elements HOPE feet, HOPE boards, safety light, Kinetic Energy #1 & #2 ... .. 674 & 661 kip-ft OCDI............ ........ FSOOOOOOO 

N and 7-\b ballast sand in each foot Exit Conditions Max. Occupant Compartment 0 

N Soil Type and Condition ...... Concrete pavement, damp Speed Barricade #1 .. 62.5 milh Deformation. . .... None 

0 Speed Barricade #2 ........ 61.3 milh Windshield Damage . ... None I 

0 

I 

N Figure 6.7. Summary of Results for MASH Test 3-72 at 0° and 90° on Safetycade® Type I and Type II Barricades. \,;.) -