U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Federal Highway 

Administration 

1200 New Jersey Ave., SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

2/9/21 

An open letter to all in the highway safety hardware and roadside design community. 

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is continuing to update its process for issuing 

Federal-aid eligibility letters for roadside safety hardware systems. The FHWA’s Federal-aid 

eligibility letters are provided as a service to the States and are not a requirement for roadside 

safety hardware to be eligible for Federal-aid reimbursement. This letter serves to notify you that 

FHWA is providing clarification on the process to obtain an eligibility letter for cable barrier 

systems. 

Over the past several months, FHWA has received questions regarding required tests for cable 

barrier systems to receive an eligibility letter. In 2016, AASHTO published the 2nd edition of the 

Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) to replace MASH 1st Edition (2009). The 2nd

Edition of MASH added test matrices for cable barriers to be installed on slopes. The FHWA 

Office of Safety made modifications to its eligibility letter website to be consistent with the 2nd 

Edition of MASH. The modifications necessitated updating eligibility letters issued in accordance 

with the 1st edition of MASH. The updates of the eligibility letters consisted of adding a phrase to 

indicate the as-tested condition (such as slope, offset and terrain) after the original description of 

the device. Additionally, the language of the letters was updated to be consistent with the FHWA 

Office of Safety’s current policies. The table below shows the eligibility letters issued for cable 

barrier systems and the corresponding tests run for each system. 

Table 1: Cable Barrier Systems Tested to Date 

Original 

Letter 

New or Updated 

Letter 

Name of System Manufacturer Tests Run 

B-354 Not applicable 

since test condition 

is included in the 

name of the 

system. 

CSP Pacific Sentryline-M, Level 

Terrain 

CSP Pacific 4-10, 4-11 and

4-12

B-340 Not applicable 

since test condition 

is included in the 

name of the 

system. 

Gibraltar Global TL-3 Cable 

Barrier System, 4H:1V Slope 

Gibraltar Global 

LLC 

3-10, 3-11,

3-13, 3-14,

3-16, 3-17, and

3-18

B-316 B-316A Gibraltar Global TL-4 Cable 

Barrier System, Level Terrain 

Gibraltar Global 

LLC 

4-10, 4-11, and

4-12

B-276 B-276A Safence 3RSC-16 Blue System 3 

Cable Driven Post System, 2H:1V 

Slope, 200 mm Offset 

Safence, Inc. 3-10 and 3-11

B-245 B-245A Brifen Wire Rope Safety Fence 

O-Post, MASH, Level Terrain

Hill & Smith Ltd 3-10 and 3-11
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 

B-232 B-232B CASS S3 on 4H:1V Slopes, 30 

foot-wide median on backslope 

11feet from bottom of median and 

26 feet from slope break point 

Trinity Highway 

Products, LLC 

3-10 and 3-11 

B-232A B-232C CASS S3 MASH TL-4 on Level 

Terrain 

Trinity Highway 

Products, LLC 

4-10, 4-11, and 

4-12 

B-88F B-88G Safence in 1:4 Sloped Medians, 

26 foot-wide median on front 

slope with 4-foot offset from 

slope break point 

Safence, Inc. 3-10 and 3-11 

Effective as of the date of publication of the 2nd Edition of MASH, all recommended tests for 

cable barriers as indicated in the document are required to be run in accordance with the asdesigned conditions to which it will be implemented. Consistent with current practice, FHWA 

will continue to issue eligibility letters for roadside safety hardware that complies with the 

recommended tests found in the most up-to-date edition of MASH. Information regarding 

eligibility letters can be found at: 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/countermeasures/reduce_crash_severity/acceptprocess/ 

The FHWA will continue to provide for Federal-aid reimbursement for all cable barrier systems 

shown in Table 1. 

The contents of this open letter do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind 

the States or the public in any way. This open letter is intended only to provide clarity to the 

States and the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies. 

Please contact Aimee Zhang, FHWA Office of Safety, with questions or comments at 

Aimee.Zhang@dot.gov 

Sincerely yours, 

Michael S. Griffith 

Director, Office of Safety Technologies 

Office of Safety