Memorandum
 

Subject:	 ACTION: Guardrail Terminal Date: November 30, 2016 

Installations and Repairs 

From: Michael S. Griffith In Reply Refer To: 

Director, Office of Safety Technologies HSST 

To:	 Division Administrators
 

Directors of Field Services
 

Federal Lands Highway Division Engineers
 

Purpose 

The purpose of this memorandum is to bring to your attention guardrail terminal installation and 

repair issues. 

Background 

There have been recent reports of highway crashes involving guardrails that have noted cases of 

incompatible components being used in the maintenance or repair of terminals. This use of 

incompatible parts will likely affect the performance of the crashworthy guardrail terminal, and 

may lead to serious injury or death. 

The Office of Safety first addressed this issue in a Frequently Asked Question attached to the 

memorandum on Steel Strong Post W-beam Guardrail dated May 17, 2010. 

Q. WHEN REPAIRING CRASH-DAMAGED GUARDRAIL TERMINALS OR 

CRASH CUSHIONS, MAY WE USE "BREAKAWAY POSTS" OR OTHER 

COMPONENTS THAT FIT IF THEY ARE SUPPLIED BY ANOTHER 

MANUFACTURER? 

A. Barrier terminals and crash cushions are precisely engineered devices subjected to 

up to 8 different crash tests meant to show proper performance when impacted by errant 

vehicles. If the substitute parts do not crush, break, bend, or slide the same way as the 

crash-tested parts, the device's performance will be affected, with the potential of 

negative performance(even if the device's performance in one test may improve with the 

substitute part in place, it may lead to failure under another test impact condition). If the 

component in question is covered by patent and unique to the system, then the overall 

effect can only be determined by the original manufacturer and/or a crash test laboratory. 

Substitutions of components are allowable if any one of these conditions is met: 
 

 

 

 

1.	 The substitute components are generic items (e.g. guardrail line posts, w-beam 

rail elements, some fastener hardware, etc.) that meet the same specification as 

the crash tested parts 

2.	 The manufacturer of a patented device has determined that the part will not 

adversely affect the device's performance and has agreed that the part may be 

substituted 

3.	 The substitute component has been successfully crash tested as part of the same 

system 

4.	 A critical or "smart" part that was formerly covered by a patent is manufactured to 

the same specification as the original part 

This guidance applies to the safety performance of barrier terminals, crash cushions, and the 

barriers themselves when considering the use of substitute components. 

The Office of Safety reiterated the importance of proper installation and maintenance practices in 

the memorandum of May 26, 2015 when it was requested of the Division Administrators to ask 

their states to “...review and, if necessary, update policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines 

relative to the selection, installation, maintenance, and in-service evaluations of crashworthy 

roadside safety hardware on their roadways”, specifically: 

1.	 Relative to installation and maintenance of crashworthy roadside safety hardware, it is 

strongly recommended that they put in place the necessary protocols to ensure that any 

entity installing or maintaining roadside safety hardware, including contractors or State or 

local personnel, are capable (e.g., trained, credentialed or authorized by the roadside 

hardware manufacturer for the installation and maintenance of their hardware) of doing 

this work. 

2.	 Review standard plans and specifications to ensure that only crashworthy devices are 

used on the National Highway System (NHS). 

In order to encourage the states to provide in-depth training on the installation of barrier and 

terminal hardware, the Office of Safety led Guardrail Installation and Maintenance training as 

part of our Focused Approach to Safety effort. This three-day course involving classroom 

instruction as well as hands-on demonstrations of safety hardware offered directly by the 

hardware manufacturers themselves has been presented to 15 Focus States to date: 

•	 Pennsylvania • Mississippi 

•	 Delaware • Louisiana 

•	 Ohio • Missouri 

•	 Kentucky • Texas 

•	 Tennessee • California (LTAP) 

•	 North Carolina 

•	 South Carolina 

•	 Georgia 

•	 Florida 

•	 Alabama 
 

 

While the existing contract is ending this year, the effort will be succeeded by the Guardrail 

Installation and Inspection Training grant program that was included in the Fixing America’s 

Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Announcements for the opportunity for your State to host 

this training are expected in 2017. 

Action 

 

 

 

Please share this memorandum with your State DOT and any city, county, or municipality in 

your State with responsibility for the operation and maintenance of their roadways. 

Please ask them to review and, if necessary, update their policies, procedures, standards, and 

guidelines relative to the selection, installation, repair, and maintenance of roadside safety 

hardware, giving strong consideration to: 

•	 A system wide inventory of in-situ roadside safety hardware, especially guardrail 

terminals 

•	 Accurate identification of safety hardware components in maintenance inventories 

•	 Training of contractors and maintenance forces responsible for guardrail terminal 

installation and repair 

•	 Training of inspectors who approve new and repaired guardrail terminals 

Please emphasize the importance of following the manufacturers’ installation manuals for both 

new construction and repairs and to take advantage of manufacturers’ training on proprietary 

products. 

A Transportation Research Board Circular, “Roadside Safety Design and Devices: International 

Workshop,” was just published in November 2016. The first article in the circular “Roadside 

Barrier Installation and Maintenance Issues: The Need for Improved Quality Control,” is quite 

timely. A PDF of the Circular is available free of charge online at: 

http://www.trb.org/main/blurbs/175369.aspx 

For additional information please contact Mr. William Longstreet at (202) 366-0087 or 

Will.Longstreet@dot.gov