Safety Performance Evaluation of a Non-Proprietary Type III Barricade for Use in Work Zones

Work-zone traffic control devices, such as Type III barricades, must satisfy impact safety standards to improve safety and minimize risk for the motoring public traveling within work zones and on our highways and roadways. More specifically, this study focused on developing improved methods and products for addressing safety and mobility in work zones by evaluating new technologies and methods, thereby enhancing the safety and efficiency of traffic operations and highway workers. The non-proprietary, Type III barricade had three horizontal High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) panels with a 1,219-mm × 762-mm × 2-mm aluminum sign attached to the top two barricade panels. The barricade panels were attached to two Perforated Square Steel Tubing (PSST) uprights, which were inserted into two PSST vertical stubs welded to two PSST legs. All PSST was galvanized ASTM 1011 Grade 55 steel. A 22.7-kg sandbag was placed on top of the end of each leg. A Type A/C warning light was attached to the front of the top barricade panel and upright at both upright locations. All of the impacts on the non-proprietary Type III barricade systems resulted in acceptable safety performance according to MASH 2016. Since the system is non-proprietary, any manufacturer could provide the components as long as they had similar dimensions and material grade as the as-tested system. It is anticipated that the Type III barricade without an attached aluminum sign panel would perform equivalent to or better than the system tested with a sign panel.