Mr. Owen S. Denman, P.E.

President 

Barrier Systems, Incorporated

180 River Road

Rio Vista, California 94571-1208

Dear Mr. Denman: 

In your November 9 letter, you requested formal Federal Highway Administration review and 

acceptance of a proprietary temporary steel barrier named the BarrierGuard 800. To support 

this request, you also sent copies of an October test report entitled “NCHRP Report 350 Crash 

Test Report: Highway Care Ltd. and Laura Metaal Eygelshoven, BV BarrierGuard 800”, 

compiled and prepared by Safe Technologies, Inc. and videotapes of the crash tests that were 

conducted on the barrier.

The BarrierGuard 800 is a longitudinal barrier constructed from 5-mm thick A36 galvanized 

steel panels assembled in 12-meter segments. Each segment is 800-mm high with a base width 

of 540 mm and a top width of 230 mm. As shown in Enclosure 1, the BarrierGuard 800 has a 

sloped face with a “step” 255 mm above the ground. Each segment weighs approximately 

1080 kg. The system is anchored at each end and at a point approximately 6 m in from each 

end with a total of 16 24-mm diameter by 460-mm long threaded steel rods (4 rods at each 

anchor location) in a minimum of 75-mm of asphaltic concrete over at least 200-mm of 

compacted dense graded aggregate. Alternative designs certified by the manufacturer to 

provide anchorage equal to or better than the tested design may also be used.

The BarrierGuard 800 has been tested and approved under the European EN 1317 testing and 

evaluation criteria up to test level H2. Tests were successfully conducted at the BASt facility 

in Germany and the LIER facility in France with cars weighing 900 kg and 1500 kg. These 

tests may be considered equivalent to National Cooperative Highway Research Program 

(NCHRP) Report 350 test 3-10. Safe Technologies, Inc. constructed a 72-m long test 

installation that was impacted by a 2000-kg pickup truck at 25 degrees and 100.5 km/h. The 

impact point was approximately 15 m upstream from the anchored end section, thus effectively 

replicating a transition test (NCHRP Report 350 test 3-21). The vehicle was contained and 

redirected. Dynamic deflection was reported to be 1 m. Test results met all appropriate 

evaluation criteria as noted in Enclosure 2. 

400 Seventh St., S.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20590

In Reply Refer To: HSA-10/B-131 

November 30, 2004 
2

In addition to the passenger vehicle tests noted above, the BarrierGuard 800 was tested with a 

13000-kg intercity bus impacting at 70 km/h and 20 degrees and a 7500-kg single unit truck at 

50 km/h and at a 45 degree angle. You noted that the impact severity in the two latter crashes 

exeeded that required by the NCHRP Report 350 TL-4 single unit truck by factors of nearly 2 

and 3, respectively. Staff members have reviewed the crash videos and test data for these tests 

and recommended that together, they be considered equivalent to the current TL-4 test with the 

8000-kg single unit truck impacting at 80 km/h and 15 degrees. However, it is not my 

intention to set any precedent by accepting the European tests in lieu of Report 350 tests and 

any future requests for “equivalent” tests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. 

Based on the information you submitted, I agree the BarrierGuard 800, as tested, meets 

NCHRP Report 350 evaluation criteria and may be used on the National Highway System 

(NHS) as a test level 4 temporary barrier. Because NCHRP Report 350 test 3-11 was not 

conducted, the design deflection for the BarrierGuard anchored only at the ends will exceed the 

1-m distance seen in test 3-21. Based on a review of the deflections noted in BASt test 2001 

7S 08/JF, a design deflection of approximately 1.5 m appears reasonable. The approach ends 

of the system will, of course, need to be shielded if located within the design clear zone on 

projects on the NHS. 

Since the BarrierGuard 800 is a steel product and is proprietary, the provisions of Title 23, 

Code of Federal Regulations Sections 635.410 and 635.411 are applicable. Note that the “Buy 

America” provisions apply only to steel products that are permanently incorporated into 

highway projects, not to temporary barriers used only during construction or maintenance 

operations.

Sincerely yours, 

 

 /Original Signed by/ 

John R. Baxter, P.E. 

 Director, Office of Safety Design 

 Office of Safety 

2 Enclosures 



Highway Care, Ltd and Laura Metaal 

Eygelshoven, BV 

BarrierGuard 800 

STI Project:  BG801 

 Page 13 of 147 

Figure 1. Summary of Results-Test #BG801 

t=0.000 sec t=.100sec t=.200sec t=.300sec t=.400sec t= .500sec

General Information Exit Conditions

 Test Agency................................................SAFE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Speed (km/h)..........................................78.7

 Test Designation.......................................... NCHRP Report 350 Test 3-21 Angle (deg).............................................4 Test No...................................................... BG801 Occupant risk Values Date.......................................................... 10/14/2004 Impact Velocity (m/s)

Test Article x-direction.......................................3.6

 Type.......................................................... Highway Care Ltd and Laura Metaal Eygelshoven, BV y-direction.......................................-4.8

BarrierGuard 800 Ridedown Acceleration (g's)

Installation Length....................................... 72 meters overall x-direction.......................................-5.7

 Size and/or dimension and material y-direction.......................................13.3 of key elements........................................... Section length 12000mm, height 800mm, THIV (km/h)..........................................20.2

width 544mm, mass 90kg per meter. PHD (g's).............................................13.5

Test Vehicle ASI......................................................0.9

 Type.........................................................Production Model Test Article Deflection (mm)

 Designation................................................2000 kg Dynamic............................................. 1000

 Model....................................................... 1992 GMC 3/4 Ton Pick-up Permanent.......................................... 850

 Mass (kg) Vehicle Damage Curb.....................................................1810.5 Exterior

 Test Inertial........................................... 2004 VDS................................................LFQ-3

 Dummy(s).............................................n/a CDC................................................11FLEE3 Gross Static.......................................... 2004 Interior

Impact Conditions OCDI............................................. LF0000000

 Speed (km/h).............................................100.5 Post-Impact Vehicular Behavior (deg-gyro @ c.g.)

 Angle (deg)............................................... 25 Maximum Roll Angle........................... -12.6

Impact Severity (kJ) ..................................... 139.5 Maximum Pitch Angle........................... -19.8

 Maximum Yaw Angle........................... -68.3

 Page 13 of 119

STI Project:

 BG801

Highway Care Limited

BarrierGuard 800