Refer to: HSA-10/WZ-132 

Mr. Scott Behm 

Three D Traffic Works, Inc. 

430 North Varney Street 

Burbank, California 91502 

Dear Mr. Behm: 

Thank you for your June 23, 2003, letter to Mr. Nicholas Artimovich requesting Federal 

Highway Administration (FHWA) acceptance of your company’s Type III barricade Model 

TD2400. Accompanying your letter were the crash test report and videos produced by E-Tech 

Testing Services. You requested that we find this all-plastic barricade acceptable under the 

provisions of National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 

“Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features for use 

in work zones on the National Highway System (NHS). 

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 

are those lightweight devices which are to be self-certified by the vendor, Category II devices are 

other lightweight devices which need individual crash testing but with reduced instrumentation, 

Category III devices are barriers and other fixed or heavy devices also needing crash testing with 

normal instrumentation, and Category IV devices are trailer mounted lighted signs, arrow panels, 

etc. for which crash testing requirements have not yet been established. The second guidance 

memorandum was issued on August 28, 1998, and is titled “INFORMATION: Crash Tested 

Work Zone Traffic Control Devices.” This later memorandum lists devices that are acceptable 

under Categories I, II, and III. 

The Three D Traffic Works TD2400 Series Type III Barricade is a FHWA Category II work 

zone traffic control device. The barricade is described and dimensioned in the enclosure 

"TD2400 Series Type III Barricade Product Information Sheet." It is an all plastic, lightweight, 

portable barricade made from a specially formulated polypropylene plastic with UV stabilizers 

and cold weather package. The barricade panel construction is detailed in the enclosure 

"TD2400 Series Type III Barricade Panel Product Information Sheet." 

Panels for crashworthy barricades are available in 1219, 1524, 1829, and 2438, mm (4, 5, 6, and 

8 foot) lengths. A 2438 mm (8 foot) wide barricade panel was selected for testing. The 

barricade plastic upright support legs are referred to as Tuff-1TM uprights and are specially 

designed with 

an extrusion pattern which yields additional strength. These plastic uprights are a nominal 
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1600 mm (5 feet, 4 inches) in length and 44.5 mm (1.75 inches) square. The uprights are 

supported by injection molded "EZ Foot" bases with nominal 1524 mm (5 feet) length and 

305 mm (1 foot) nominal height and width. 

The test articles were equipped with the Flex-O-Lite signal Sundowner TM warning lights at the 

top of the each upright. The warning light design is shown in the enclosed "Flex-O-Lite 

Sundowner Warning Light Product Information Sheet." The warning lights were outfitted with 

one battery each and the barricade bases were ballasted with two 16 kg (35 pounds) sand bags 

each, positioned on the diagonal. 

Testing 

Full-scale automobile testing was conducted on your company’s devices. Two stand-alone 

examples of the devices 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 tests are summarized in the table below. 

Test Number NCHRP 350 Test 3-71 

14-0160-001 

Barricade Orientation Head-on 90 degrees 

Weight of Tested Stand 20.4 kg (45 pounds) 

Weight of Sand Ballast Two 16 kg bags (70 pounds of sand, total) 

Mounting heights 1600 mm (63 inches) to top of top rail 

Flags? Lights? Two Flex-O-Lite Sundowner warning lights 

Mass of Test Vehicle 821 kg (1808 pounds) 

Impact Speed 98.3 km/hr 96.4 km/hr 

Velocity Change 1.9 km/hr (0.53 m/sec) 2.0 km/hr (0.56 m/sec) 

Extent of contact Top rail impacts windshield End of top rail impacts 

windshield 

Windshield Damage Both impacts caused modest cracking but no holes through the 

glass. 

Findings 

Damage was limited to moderate windshield cracking, but not to the extent that a driver’s ability 

to see would be severely limited, nor were any holes made through the glass. The results of the 

testing met the FHWA requirements and, therefore, the Three D Traffic Works Model TD2400 

barricade described above and detailed in the enclosed drawings are acceptable for use on the 

NHS under the range of conditions tested, when proposed by a State. 

Please note the following standard provisions which 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 
3

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-132 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. 

• Three D Traffic Works products are patented devices and 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 by a highway 

agency for use on Federal-aid 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. These 

provisions do not apply to exempt Non-NHS projects. Our regulations concerning 

proprietary products are contained in Title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 

635.411, a copy of which is enclosed. 

• This acceptance letter shall not be construed as authorization or consent by the FHWA on 

to use, manufacture, or sell any patented device. Patent issues are to be resolved by the 

applicant and the patent owner.

 

Sincerely yours, 

 

 

John R. Baxter, P.E. 

Director, Office of Safety Design 

 Office of Safety 
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Enclosures 

FHWA:HSA-10:NArtimovich:tb:x61331:9/9/03 

File: h://directory folder/nartimovich/WZ132-ThreeDFIN 

cc: HSA-10 (Reader, HSA-1; Chron File, HSA-10; 

 N. Artimovich, HSA-10)