Quotation Award - Norfolk Southern & Canadian National Railroad Crossings & Quiet Zone Materials - Proj No 116-110 - MGI Traffic Control Products

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"D U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Mr. Matthew G. Schindler Regional Manager Qwick Kurb, Inc. 1916 Tamiami Trail Ruskin, FL 33570 Dear Mr. Schindler: April 18, 2002 400 Seventh St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20590 Refer to: HSA-10/WZ-109 Thank you for your letters of December 31, 2001, and February 8, 2002, requesting Federal Highway Administration (FH[7VA) acceptance of your company's "Qwick Kurb" longitudinal channelizer as a crashwortby traffic control devices for use in work zones and in permanent installations on the National Highway System (NHS). Accompanying your letter was a report of impact testing conducted by the Transportaion Research Center, Inc., and a video of the tests, You requested that we find these devices acceptable for use on the NHS under the provisions of National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 "Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features." Introduction The FHWA guidance on crash testing of work zone traffic control devices is contained in two memoranda. The first, dated July 25, f 997, titled "INFORMATION: Identifying Acceptable Highway Safety Features," established four categories of work zone devices: Category I devices were those lightweight devices which could be self -certified by the vendor, Category R devices were other lightweight devices which needed individual crash testing, Category HI devices were barriers and other fixed or massive devices also needing crash testing, and Category IV devices were trailer mounted lighted signs, arrow panels, etc. The second guidance memorandum was issued on August 28, 1998, and is titled. "INFORMATION: Crash Tested Work Zone Traffic Control Devices." This later memorandum lists devices that are acceptable under Categories I, II, and III. Longitudinal Chaunelizetrs Your product is a system composed of two common roadway elements M curbs and road tubes. The effects that permanent curbs have on the trajectory of impacting vehicles has been the subject of crash testing and computer simulations for many years. Modular curbs, such as the Qwik Kurb, had not been subject to crash testing, although there were the same questions relative to vehicle trajectory. There are additional concerns regarding modular curbs with respect to their ability to remain attached to each other and to stay in alignment, and to remain on the pavement in the event of an impact. These questions must be answered on a product -by- product basis.