U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

Federal Highway 

Administration August 20,2007 

In Reply Refer To: 

HSSDILS-64 (REVISED) 

Mr. Ray Minor 

HAPCO 

26252 Hillman Highway 

Abingdon, VA 242 1 0 

Dear Mr. Minor: 

Your letter March 20, 2007, requests the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to revise our 

acceptance issued for your company's HAPCO cast base assemblies for decorative lighting poles 

for use on the National Highway System (NHS) under the provisions of National Cooperative 

Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 "Recommended Procedures for the Safety 

Performance Evaluation of Highway Features." Accompanying your most recent 

correspondence was a revised report on testing of your system conducted by the Texas 

Transportation Institute (TTI). This letter revises our previous letter, LS-64, to include updated 

cast base assembly model numbers and includes the consideration of a cast base that was retested 

and redesigned. 

Requirements 

Luminaire supports should meet the guidelines contained in the NCHRP Report 350, 

"Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features". The 

FHWA Memorandum "ACTION: Identifying Acceptable Highway Safety Features" of July 25, 

1997, provides further guidance on crash testing of luminaire supports and on use of low-speed 

pendulum tests as a surrogate for full-scale crash testing. 

Product description 

The following four HAPCO Decorative Lighting Pole Bases were tested at the TTI outdoor 

pendulum testing facility. 

1) HAPCO A 73 704 Cast Base Assembly for a Decorative Lighting Pole. The base of the lighting 

pole was cast aluminum (alloy 356-T6) with a 11.5 inch (292 mm) square base going into an 

octagonal shape and then tapering to a fluted base for a base height of 3 ft-7-114 inches (1.1 m). 

Atop this was a 5 inch (127 mm) diameter straight aluminum tube (Alloy 6063-T6) with 

0.188 inch (4.8 mm) wall thickness and a length of 16 ft-4-314 inches (5 m), giving a total height 

of 20 ft (6.1 m). A cast aluminum adapter ring was placed on top of the pole to accommodate 

AMERICAN 

ECONOMY I _-- 
the round light. The weight of the pole with base was 86.8 pounds (39.4 kg) and the round light 

was 23.8 pounds (10.8 kg), totaling a weight of 110.6 pounds (50.2 kg). The base was attached 

to a steel reaction plate with 112 inch (12.7 mm) steel anchor bolts, hex nuts, lock washers, and 

flat washers. Drawings of the HAPCO A73704 cast base assembly and the A88869 test pole are 

enclosed. 

2) HAPCO A 76696 Cast Base Assembly for a Decorative Lighting Pole. The base of the lighting 

pole was cast aluminum (alloy 356-T6) with a 17 inch round base (432 mm) tapering to a fluted 

shape for a base height of 20-114 inches (514 mm). A 5.8 inch (147 mm) diameter tapering to a 

3 inch (76 mm) diameter aluminum tube (alloy 6063-T6) with a 0.125 inch (3.2 mm) wall 

thickness and a length of 18 ft-3-314 inches (5.6 m) was welded to the base, giving a total height 

of 20 ft (6.1 m). A cast aluminum adapter ring was placed on top of the pole to accommodate 

the round light. The weight of the pole with the base was 9 1.0 pounds (41.3 kg) and the round 

light was 23.8 pounds (10.8 kg), totaling a weight of 114.8 pounds (52.1 kg). The base was 

attached to a steel reaction plate with 314 inch (19 mm) steel anchor bolts, hex nuts, lock washers 

and flat washers. Drawings of the HAPCO A76696 cast base assembly and the B88870 test pole 

are enclosed. 

3) HAPCO A 79419 Cast Base Assembly for a Decorative Lighting Pole. The base of the lighting 

pole was cast aluminum (alloy 356-T6) with a 17 inch round base (432 mm) tapering to a fluted 

shape for a base height of 30-314 inches (0.78 m). A 6 inch (152 mm) diameter tapering to 

3 inch (76 mm) diameter aluminum tube (alloy 6063-T6) with 0.188 inch (4.8 mm) wall 

thickness and a length of 17 ft-5-114 inches (5.3 m) was welded to the base, giving a total height 

of 20 ft (6.1 m). A cast aluminum adapter ring was placed on top of the pole to accommodate 

the round light. The weight of the pole with base was 110.2 pounds (50 kg) and the round light 

was 23.8 pounds (10.8 kg), totaling a weight of 134.0 pounds (60.8 kg). The base was attached 

to a steel reaction plate with 314 inch (19 mm) steel anchor bolts, hex nuts, lock washers and flat 

washers. Drawings of the HAPCO A79419 cast base assembly and the A88871 test pole are 

enclosed. 

4) HAPCO A 78284 Cast Base Assembly for a Decorative Lighting Pole. The base of the lighting 

pole was cast aluminum (alloy 356-T6) with an octagonal base going into a fluted tube for a base 

height of 42 inches (1.1 m). Atop this was a 5 inch (127 mm) aluminum tube (alloy 6063-T6) 

with 0.188 inch (4.8 mm) wall thickness and 16 ft-6 inches long (5 m), giving a total height of 

20 ft (6.1 m). A cast aluminum adapter ring was placed on top of the pole to accommodate the 

square light. The weight of the pole with base was 103.2 pounds (46.8 kg) and the round light 

was 15.0 pounds (6.8 kg), totaling a weight of 1 18.2 pounds (53.6 kg). The base was attached to 

an in-ground 5 inch (127 mm) diameter aluminum tube (alloy 6063-T6) with 0.188 inch 

(4.8 mm) wall thickness, 4 ft (1.22 m) long, and flattened 12 inches (305 mm) from the bottom 

with a 2.5 inch (63.5 mm) wide by 8 inch (203 mm) long slotted hole centered 2 ft (0.61 m) 

below the ground surface. Drawings of the HAPCO A78284 cast base assembly and the A88868 

test pole are enclosed. 

Testing 

Your company's cast base assemblies for decorative lighting poles were tested at the TTI 

outdoor pendulum testing facility, as a surrogate for full-scale crash testing. The pendulum 

bogie was built according the specifications of the Federal Outdoor Impact Laboratory's (FOIL) 
pendulum, and the frontal crush of the aluminum honeycomb nose of the bogie simulated the 

crush of an actual vehicle. Tests with pendulums are acceptable for most breakaway supports, 

exceptions being base bending or yielding supports. 

Five low speed pendulum tests were conducted on your company's assembly bases for 

decorative lighting poles, one test on each of the poles with an additional test conducted on 

HAPCO A79419. Summaries of the test results are provided in Enclosure 2. All of the cast base 

assemblies met the NCHRP Report 350 occupant risk criteria. In addition, TTI extrapolated the 

high-speed performance from the low speed pendulum tests. We agree that the test articles 

appear to perform appropriately to make such high-speed extrapolations. All high speed 

extrapolations yield lower change in velocity values than the paired low speed pendulum tests. 

In tests with HAPCO A73704 and HAPCO A76696 cast base assemblies, the base pulled out of 

the anchor bolts. In the test with HAPCO A78284 cast base assembly, the base fractured at 

ground level. This performance satisfies the FHWA limit of maximum 4 inch (100 mm) stub 

height remaining after a support breaks away. 

However, in the first test conducted on the HAPCO A79419 cast base assembly, the remaining 

base left on the reaction plate was 9 inches (229 mm) tall, which exceeds the FHWA limit of a 

maximum 4 inch (100 mm) stub height. While you reported that a portion of the fractured base 

was contacted by the pendulum sweeper plate and the associated change in velocity was 

negligible, a concern remained that the stub may have a potential to cause vehicle undercarriage 

snagging and vehicle instability if a wheel hits the stub. The same cast base assembly was 

retested and the base fractured at ground level. The cast base appears to fracture randomly when 

impacted, and the FHWA requested additional changes be made to the design. Subsequently, the 

HAPCO A79419 cast base assembly was redesigned as shown on HAPCO Drawing A12500 

(enclosed) to match the HAPCO A76696 by widening the anchor bolt slots. With the passing 

test and subsequent design improvement, the HAPCO A12500 is now acceptable to the FHWA 

and no further testing is required. 

In summary, we agree that HAPCO A73704, HAPCO A76696, HAPCO A12500, and HAPCO 

A78284 cast base assemblies for decorative lighting poles as described above, meet the 

appropriate evaluation criteria for a NCHRP 350 Test Level 3 devices and may be used at all 

appropriate locations on the NHS when selected by the contracting authority, subject to the 

provisions of Title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 635.41 1 as they pertain to 

proprietary products. 

Standard provisions 

Please note the following standard provisions that apply to FHWA letters of acceptance: 

This 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 fiom 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 LS-64 

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 HAPCO devices are patented products and considered proprietary. If proprietary 

devices are specified by a highway agency 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 the 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 635.41 1. 

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, 

George E. Rice, Jr. 

Acting Director, Office of Safety Design 

Office of Safety 

Enclosures