1200 New Jersey Ave., SE

 Washington, D.C. 20590

August 18, 2011

In Reply Refer To:

HSST/ B-69D

Mr. Gerrit A. Dyke, P.E.

Vice President of Engineering and R & D

Barrier Systems, Inc.

3333 Vaca Valley Parkway, Suite 800

Vacaville, CA 95688

Dear Mr. Dyke:

This letter is in response to your request for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 

acceptance of a roadside safety system for use on the National Highway System (NHS).

Name of system: Quickchange Concrete Reactive Tension Barrier System (QMB-CRTS)

Type of system: Moveable Concrete Longitudinal Barrier

Test Level: NCHRP Report 350 Test Level 4 (TL-4)

Testing conducted by: Safe Technologies, Inc. and MIRA, LTD

Date of request: December 28, 2010

Date request acknowledged: January 7, 2011

Task Force 13 designator: SGM22b

You requested that we find this system acceptable for use on the NHS under the provisions of the

National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 “Recommended 

Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features” at TL-4.

Requirements

Roadside safety devices should meet the guidelines contained in NCHRP Report 350 if tested 

prior to December 31, 2010. Devices tested after that date must follow the guidelines contained 

in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Official’s (AASHTO) Manual 

for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). The FHWA memorandum “ACTION: Identifying 

Acceptable Highway Safety Features” of July 24, 1997, provides further guidance on crash 

testing requirements of roadside features, including crash cushions.

Decision

The following system design was found acceptable, with details provided below:

• Quickchange Concrete Reactive Tension Barrier System (QMB-CRTS)
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Description

The system is a portable and moveable reinforced concrete longitudinal barrier intended for use 

as a temporary barrier in highway construction zones or as a semi-permanent installation for use

in reversible-lane operations. It was originally tested and accepted as an NCHRP Report 350 

TL-3 barrier and fully described in FHWA Acceptance Letters B69 and B-69A. Only the 

internal reinforcement was changed to achieve the higher performance level. Barrier segment 

shape and connection details were unchanged from the TL-3 design. 

Crash Testing

Crash testing was performed at Safe Technologies, Inc. in California and at the MIRA. LTD 

facility in the United Kingdom. Although all of the tests described below were based on the 

European EN 1317 standards, tests with the NCHRP Report 350 820C and 2000P test vehicles 

were successfully conducted in conjunction with the FHWA’s original TL-3 acceptance letters 

for the original QMB-RTS designs. Tests 3-10 and 3-11 are identical to tests 4-10 and 4-11. The 

results of these earlier tests were included with acceptance letter B-69.

The first test reported here was EN 1317 Test TB11 which is comparable to NCHRP Report 350 

Tests 3-10 and 4-10. The test installation consisted of 41 meters (134 feet) of anchored Steel 

Reactive Tension QMB units for additional mass, followed by 42 meters (138 feet) of 1-meter 

(39-inch) long CRTS units. Dynamic deflection was 540 millimeters (21.3 inches). Enclosure 2 

is the test summary sheet prepared by Safe Technologies, Inc. 

The second test completed by Safe Technologies, Inc. was EN 1317 Test TB32. This test 

installation consisted of 24 meters (79 feet) of unanchored Steel Reactive Tension QMB units for 

additional mass, followed by 48 meters (157 feet) of 1-meter (39 inch) long CRTS units in the 

impact area. Another 23 meters (75.5 feet) of Steel Reactive Tension units were connected to the 

downstream end of the CRTS units. Dynamic deflection was 700 millimeters (27.6 inches). 

Enclosure 3 is the test summary sheet. The Impact Severity (IS) for this test was recorded as 

87.7 kJ, significantly less than the Report 350 recommended value of 138.1 kJ. However, as 

noted above, test 3-11 was successfully run on the original CRST design and was the basis for 

FHWA acceptance letter B-69. For that test, the reported dynamic deflection was 610 

millimeters (24.0 inches). Since test 3-11 is identical to test 4-11 and the only design change to 

the CRST was the addition of internal reinforcing, the earlier 3-11 test will suffice to 

demonstrate the crashworthiness of the CRST with the 2000P test vehicle.

EN 1317 test TB51 was conducted by MIRA, LTD. The test vehicle was a13000-kg (28,660-

pound) bus impacting the CRST barrier at a nominal speed of 70 km/hr (43.5 mph) and an 

impact angle of 20 degrees. The test installation consisted of 99 meters (325 feet) of freestanding CRST units, anchored at both ends. The dynamic deflection was 1.7 meters (5.6 feet). 

Enclosure 4 is the test summary sheet. Because the impact severity of this test far exceeded the 

Report 350 target value and the center of mass of the bus was higher than the Report 350 8000S 

single-unit truck, the FHWA will accept this test as a substitute for Report 350 test 4-12. 

Findings

Based upon the successful completion of the EN 1317 tests you provided, we agree that your 

QMB-CRTS, with additional internal reinforcement, is acceptable for use as a TL-4 longitudinal 
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barrier under NCHRP Report 350 test and evaluation conditions. The design, as described 

above, may be used on the NHS when such use is acceptable to the contracting authority. 

In supplemental correspondence, you stated that all of your CRST barrier segments have been 

manufactured with the additional reinforcing since successful completion of Test TB32 and that 

barriers made subsequent to this acceptance letter will be marked to identify their TL-4 capacity. 

For barriers already in circulation, you can verify TL-3 or TL-4 capacity by determining their 

date of manufacture if requested to do so by a using agency.

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

• This letter includes an AASHTO/ARTBA/AGC Task Force 13 designation that should be 

used when drafting new or revised Task Force 13 drawings.

• This acceptance is limited to the crashworthiness characteristics of the systems and does 

not cover their structural features, or conformity with the Manual on Uniform Traffic 

Control Devices.

• Any changes that may adversely influence the crashworthiness of the system 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 system being marketed is 

significantly different from the version that was crash tested, we reserve the right to 

modify or revoke our 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 it will meet the crashworthiness requirements of the FHWA and 

NCHRP Report 350.

• To prevent misunderstanding by others, this letter of acceptance is designated as number 

B-69d and shall not be reproduced except in full. This letter and the test documentation 

upon which it is based are public information. All such letters and documentation may be 

reviewed at our office upon request.

• The QMB-RTS TL-4 barrier is a patented product and considered proprietary. If 

proprietary devices are specified by a highway agency for use on Federal-aid projects, 

except exempt, non-NHS projects, (a) they 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 635.411.
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• This acceptance letter shall not be construed as authorization or consent by the FHWA to 

use, manufacture, or sell any patented system for which the applicant is not the patent 

holder. The acceptance letter is limited to the crashworthiness characteristics of the 

candidate system, 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,

Michael S. Griffith

Director, Office of Safety Technologies

Office of Safety 

Enclosures