September 12, 2003 

Refer to: HSA-10/B-117 

Ronald K. Faller, Ph.D., P.E. 

Research Assistant Professor 

University of Nebraska – Lincoln 

1901 Y Street, Bldg. C 

Lincoln, NE 68588-0601 

Dear Mr. Faller: 

In your August 25 letter to Mr. A. George Ostensen, you requested the Federal Highway 

Administration’s (FHWA) formal acceptance of three non-proprietary longitudinal barrier 

systems for use on the National Highway System (NHS). The first system will be addressed in 

this letter, and the remaining two designs will be covered in subsequent correspondence. The 

first design consisted of stacked steel H-Sections connected end-to-end and bolted to a simulated 

bridge deck. It was developed specifically for use at locations where typical lateral deflections 

for temporary concrete barrier were unacceptable. 

The tested design was a modification of a temporary barrier developed and used by the Iowa 

Department of Transportation. The original design consisted of two ASTM A36 steel HP 356 

mm x 109 mm x 6.1-m long beams, stacked one above the other with the box section formed by 

the stacked HP shapes filled with concrete. The stacked barrier is approximately 29 inches (741 

mm) high and its width is approximately 13.5 inches (346 mm). The tested design used four 

steel angle brackets welded to the traffic side of the barrier through which the barrier was 

fastened to the simulated bridge deck with four 19-mm diameter x 57-mm long ASTM A307 

bolts placed into drop-in concrete anchors. Four angle brackets may also be attached to the field 

side of the barrier so it can be installed along the opposite side of the bridge without having to be 

rotated 180 degrees, but only the traffic side of the barrier is bolted to the bridge deck. Whereas 

the original design used welded splice plates to connect the upper and lower HP sections and to 

join adjacent segments, the final design used a continuous weld to connect the upper and lower 

beams and shear plates with drop pins to connect adjacent segments of barrier. Specific 

dimensions and other design details are shown in Enclosure 1. 

The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 test 3-11 was 

successfully conducted on the final design and is described in the Midwest Roadside Safety 

Facility’s May 30, report entitled, Development of a Steel H-Section Temporary Barrier for use 

in Limited Deflection Applications.” Enclosure 2 is a summary sheet of the test results. 

I agree with your conclusion that the H-Section barrier met all NCHRP Report 350 evaluation 

criteria for a test level 3 barrier and conclude that it can be used as such on the NHS when its use 

is acceptable to the contracting agency. Although the reported dynamic deflection of the 
2

barrier was 314 mm when installed 330 mm from the edge of the simulated deck, you 

concluded that the barrier could safely be installed within 150 mm from the edge without danger 

that the barrier would separate or be dislodged from the deck. I concur with this assessment, but 

suggest that all field installations be monitored to verify acceptable performance under these 

conditions. 

Sincerely yours, 

 

 (original signed by John R. Baxter) 

John R. Baxter, P.E. 

 Director, Office of Safety Design 

 Office of Safety 

2 Enclosures 
56

Figure 33. Steel H-section Temporary Barrier Design Details (Design No. 2)
57

Figure 34. Steel H-section Temporary Barrier End Details (Design No. 2)
58

Figure 35. Steel H-section Temporary Barrier Splice Details (Design No. 2)
59

Figure 36. Steel H-section Temporary Barrier Details (Design No. 2)
70

0.000 sec 0.085 sec 0.142 sec 0.205 sec 

! Test Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HTB-2! Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/10/02! Appurtenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tie-Down Steel H-Section Temporary Barrier! Total Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.25 m! Placement from Bridge Deck Edge . 330 mm to back of rail! Steel H-section Temporary Barriers

Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ASTM A36 steel Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . Two HP 356x109 mm by 6.1-m long beams

stacked and connected by longitudinal welds

Splice Connections . . . . . . . . Two 330x314x12.7 mm steel shear plates

 welded to HP webs with two 38-mm steel pins

! Barrier Tie-Downs

Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ASTM A36 steelAngle Brackets . . . . . . . . . . . Four 102x152x152x12.7-mm welded to the

 base of each side of the barrierDrop-in Anchors . . . . . . . . . . Four 19-mm Red Head drop-in anchors

with ASTM A307 bolts and plate washers

! Soil Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On dry pavement! Vehicle Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1995 GMC 2500 3⁄4-ton pickup

Curb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,943 kgTest Inertial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,988 kgGross Static . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,988 kg

! Vehicle Speed

Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.7 km/hr

Exit (resultant) . . . . . . . . . . . . 76.3 km/hr

! Vehicle Angle

Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Exit (trajectory) . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

! Vehicle Snagging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No! Vehicle Pocketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No! Vehicle Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sa! Occupant Ridedown Deceleration (10 ms

Longitudinal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2Lateral (not required) . . . . . . . . 12

! Occupant Impact Velocity

Longitudinal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6Lateral (not required) . . . . . . . . 7.0

! Vehicle Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M

TAD13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-R

SAE14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-R

! Vehicle Stopping Distance . . . . . . . . 63

5.1

! Barrier Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M! Maximum Deflections

Permanent Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Dynamic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

! Working Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Figure 42. Summary of Test Results and Sequential Photographs, Test HTB-2