March 27, 2002 

HSA-10/B39A 

Ms. Maggie Ellis 

General Manager 

Mondo Polymer Technologies 

P.O. Box 250 

Reno, Ohio 45773 

Dear Ms. Ellis: 

In your March 6 letter to Mr. Richard Powers of my staff, you requested acceptance 

of a modified version of your polymer guardrail offset block that was first accepted 

by the Federal Highway Administration in March 1997 as meeting the requirements 

of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350. 

You indicated that the formulation of the Mondo Polymer Offset Block remained 

the same as the original version (approximately 70 per cent low density polyethylene 

and 30 per cent high density polyethylene), but that its dimensions had been 

changed to reduce its weight and cost. You also sent copies of the Texas 

Transportation Institute’s February 2002 report entitled “NCHRP Report 350 Test 

3-11 of the G-4 W-Beam Guardrail with Mondo Recycled Polymer Offset Block” 

and a videotape of the crash test. 

The new block dimensions are 102-mm wide at the block/guardrail interface and 

remain constant for 162 mm before flaring out to 152-mm wide at the post/block 

interface. A 10-mm deep by 108-mm wide recess accommodates the post flange, 

making the effective block depth 193 mm. In addition, the new blocks have two 

rectangular openings that taper from 64 mm by 114 mm at the front to 76 mm by 

127 mm at the post/block interface. These dimensions are shown in Enclosure 1. 

Test 3-11 was conducted on a 68.6-m long standard w-beam test installation. The 

pickup truck impacted approximately 24 m from the upstream anchor at 101.4 

km/h and 25.4 degrees. Maximum occupant impact velocity was 4.9 m/s and the 

subsequent ridedown acceleration was 10.9 g’s. Vehicle roll and pitch was slight. 

Barrier dynamic deflection was reported to be 0.84 m. Enclosure 2 is a summary 

sheet of the test. 

Based on staff review of the test results, the modified Mondo Polymer Offset Block 

may be considered crashworthy and used on the National Highway System with 

strong steel post w-beam and with strong steel post Thrie-beam (with an increased 

block height of 554 mm). It may also be used without the route as an offset block 

with wood post w-beam and Thrie-beam barriers. As with all acceptance letters for 

recycled blocks, this acceptance is based on the reported crash performance of the 

Mondo Polymer offset block and is not intended to address its long-term durability. 

I also assume that all manufactured blocks will conform to the material composition 

and physical dimensions of the blocks used in the above test. Since your product is 
proprietary, the conditions stated in Title 23, Code of federal Regulations, Section 

635.411 governing its use on Federal-aid projects remain in effect. 

 

Sincerely yours, 

 (original signed by David M. Smith) 

 for A. George Ostensen 

Program Manager, Safety 

2 Enclosures 

0.000 s 0.121 s 0.242 s 

General Information

Test Agency ............Test No. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Test Article

Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Installation Length (m) .....Material or Key Elements . .

Soil Type and Condition ....Test Vehicle

Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Designation .............Model ..................Mass (kg)

Curb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Test Inertial . . . . . . . . . . .Dummy . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gross Static . . . . . . . . . . .

Texas Transportation Institute400001-MON101/10/02GuardrailW-Beam Guardrail With Mondo Blockout68.6G4(1S) W-Beam Guardrail With MondoPolymer BlockoutsStandard Soil, DryProduction2000P1996 Chevrolet 2500 Pickup Truck 21152043 N/A2043

Impact Conditions

Speed (km/h) ................

Angle (deg) .................

Exit Conditions

Speed (km/h) ................Angle (deg) .................

Occupant Risk Values

Impact Velocity (m/s)

x-direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .y-direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

THIV (km/h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ridedown Accelerations (g's)

x-direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .y-direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PHD (g’s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ASI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Max. 0.050-s Average (g's)

x-direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .y-direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .z-direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

101.4 25.449.418.4 4.9 4.723.2-10.9 8.9 12.0 0.78-4.9 6.1 3.2

Test Article Deflect

Dynamic . . . . . . Permanent . . . . . Working Width . 

Vehicle Damage

Exterior

VDS . . . . . . . . CDC . . . . . . . 

Maximum Exterior

Vehicle Crush (

Interior

OCDI . . . . . . . 

Max. Occ. Compa

Deformation (m

Post-Impact Behav

(during 1.0 s after Max. Yaw Angle (Max. Pitch Angle Max. Roll Angle (d

Summary of results for test 400001-MON1, NCHRP Report 350 test 3-11.