Safety Eligibility Letter B-170A

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration

1200 New Jersey Ave. S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590

February 20, 2009

In Reply Refer To: HSSD/B-170A

Mr. Don S. Turner
Traffic Safety and Design Engineer
South Carolina Department of Transportation
P.O. Box 191
Columbia, SC 29202-0191

Dear Mr. Turner:

This correspondence is in reference to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Acceptance Letter HSSD/B-170 dated April 22, 2008, in which the FHWA accepted a South Carolina DOT (SCDOT) temporary concrete barrier wall anchorage.  The FHWA acceptance was based on combining both Numbers 1 and 2 below for temporary barrier on bridge decks application on the National Highway System, specifically under the range of conditions that the original barrier(s) were tested as follows:

1. FHWA acceptance letter, B-98, dated May 10, 2002: Ten- and twelve-foot long New Jersey profile barriers with triple loops and drop-in pin connections using “North Carolina Design” for the temporary concrete barrier wall.
2. FHWA acceptance letter B-5, dated March 14, 1989:  Precast New Jersey barrier specifying proprietary anchors and grout.

The intent of this correspondence is to notify you of this office’s most recent discovery of two  separate issues related to the FHWA Acceptance Letter HSSD/B-170 that compromise current FHWA acceptance status as follows:

1. The original submission did not contain computational analysis showing proposed “North Carolina Design” temporary concrete barrier wall reinforcement being equal or greater strength to that which was successfully tested under positive connected barrier conditions as per FHWA Acceptance Letter B-5.
2. The specified anchor pattern for both 10ft. and 12ft. sections of barrier violates Acceptance Letter B-5.

The most recent SCDOT request for through-bolting method of anchoring same type portable barriers on bridge decks will be placed on-hold status until issues described herein are addressed and resolved.

Please respond to this correspondence with comments or with requested information by Thursday, March 20, 2009.  If you are unable to provide the information needed to resolve these issues, or to have the barrier system subjected to full-scale crash testing and achieve successful results, we will move to rescind FHWA acceptance letter B-170.

If you have any questions, the Office of Safety contact is Mr. Will Longstreet at (202) 366-0087.