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                Safety Eligibility Letter WZ-130
  
  **Hardware Type:**
            Work Zone Devices
                          **Code:**
            WZ-130
                          **Date:**
            12/18/2002
                          **Testing Criteria:**
            NCHRP 350
                          **Manufacturer:**
            Sign Up Corporation
                          **Device Description:**
            X-Cell 48 HDL
                          **View PDF:**
            wz130.pdf (734.51 KB)
    
    



December 18, 2002
Refer to: HSA-10/WZ-130
Mr. David Stoudt
Sign Up Corporation
P.O. Box 14624
Portland, Oregon  97293
Dear Mr. Stoudt:
Thank you for your letter of June 14, 2002, requesting
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) acceptance of your company=s X-CELL 48 HDL tall
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 E-Tech Testing Services and a video of the
tests. 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.”  You provided
additional information at our request via a facsimile message on December 12,
2002.
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:
The X-CELL 48 HDL Sign Stand is a portable sign system
featuring a spring loaded upright support and a 1219 mm x 2 mm thick diamond
shaped aluminum sign. The sign stand has four legs made of 25.4 mm square 2 mm
wall tubing. The tips of the legs are rubber capped and form a 2235 mm by 1321 mm base pattern. The material
specification is ASTM A500/A513 Grade A for all ERW (electronic resistance
welded) steel square tubing used in the sign support.  Each leg is attached to an “X-CELL” assembly which spring loads
the sign support upright.
The X-CELL assembly in turn supports a sign mounting stem
“socket” made from 31.8 mm square 2.4 mm wall tube.  A 25.4 mm square 2 mm wall steel tubing “center mast” is locked
into the stem by a spring detent pin.  A
19.1 mm square 1.6 mm wall steel tubing “upper mast” is locked into the stem by
a spring detent pin.  The sign is
mounted to the mast with two sliding “rigid sign clamps.”  Each clamp has two 9.5 mm carriage bolts
with wing nuts used to clamp down on the sign corner.  The clamps are secured in position on the mast with a
thumbscrew.  The lower rigid sign clamp
supports the bottom of the sign 1626 mm above ground level.  A flag holder, made of two 20 gage steel
plates formed and spot welded together, completes the top of the mast.  Three 457 mm square vinyl fabric flags with
wooden dowels were attached to the top of the support.
Testing
Full-scale automobile testing was conducted on your company=s devices.  Two stand-alone examples of the device were
tested in tandem, one head-on and the next placed six meters downstream turned
at 90 degrees, 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
18-7222-001Test Article
X-CELL
  48 HDL Sign Stand with 2 mm Aluminum SignHeight to Bottom of Sign
1626
  mmHeight to Top of Sign
3350
  mmFlags or lights
Three
  flags on wood dowelsTest Article Mass (each)
28.1
  kg, ballasted with four 16 kg sand bagsVehicle Inertial Mass
820
  kgImpact Speed, Head-on
101.1
  km/hrImpact Speed, 90 Deg.
97.5
  km/hrVelocity Change, Head-on
1.00
  m/sVelocity Change, 90 deg.
1.00
  m/sVehicle crush
None,
  slight cosmetic damage onlyOccupant Compart.Intrusion
NoneWindshield Damage
No
  contact by sign nor standFindings
Damage was nonexistent in this impact as the mast separated
from the base and the sign rotated over the vehicle in both impacts.  Velocity changes were well below the maximum
and within the “desirable” range.  The
results of the testing met the FHWA requirements and, therefore, the portable
sign stand 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-130 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
X-CELL 48 HDL Sign Stand 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,
Harry W.
Taylor
Acting
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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