ATSSA Signal Jan/Feb 2019

American Traffic Safety Services Association 22 Innovation & New Programs ATSSA participated in the Task Force 13 (TF13) 2018 Fall Meeting, where one key initiative—to form as a new non- profit entity to conduct business and interact with other roadway safety or- ganizations—was addressed. TF13 is a group that develops, advises, and promotes standards and specifica- tions for bridge and roadway safety in- frastructure on our nation’s roadways. TF13 was previously a joint American As- sociation of State Highway and Trans- portation Officials (AASHTO)- Associated General Contractors (AGC)- American Road & Transportation Builders Associ- ation (ARTBA) Subcommittee on New Highway Materials and Technologies. This subcommittee was charged with developing guide specifications for new materials and technologies identified for use in highway construction projects. Today, the AASHTO Roadside Design Guide includes references to the TF13 Hardware Guides. This volunteer group continues to meet on a semiannual ba- sis and has decided to officially create its own entity. This group concentrates on maintaining the guides so that prac- titioners can stay up to date on the latest roadside safety hardware. TF13 members are in the process of forming as an independent group and have received a draft Memorandum of Understanding from AASHTO, which addresses the relationship between the two entities. “Task Force 13meetings allow the group’s members to work diligently to ensure roadway safety is prioritized with bridge and roadway hardware by developing, recommending, and promoting stan- dards that guarantee optimal function, aesthetics, and economy,” said ATSSA Senior Technical Advisor Eric Perry, who added that TF13’s mission is accom- plished through a series of eight active subcommittees, two of which Perry co-chairs. Perry said the Barrier Hardware sub- committee’s focus is on maintaining the “Task Force 13 A Guide to Standardized Highway Barrier Hardware.” The TF13 subcommittees include publications maintenance; barrier hardware; bridge railing and transition hardware; sign, luminaire, and traffic signal support hardware; work zone hardware; certifi- cation of test facilities; marketing; and delineation. Additionally, Perry said much of the overall discussion focused on imple- mentation sunset dates provided in the 2016 AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH), which pro- vides adopted crash-testing procedures for use in assessing roadside safety hardware. Questions remain on how each state is going to implement MASH as the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) role has shifted and AASHTO’s role is only in the development of the criteria, and not implementation. A website was also developed to house the various TF13 guides, which comprise a repository of all products used on the roadside and is intended to list the key characteristics and attributes of road- side safety products broken down into various categories (bridge railings, crash cushions, end treatment or terminals, guardrail or median barriers, luminaire supports, sign supports, transition sys- tems, work zone systems, and compo- nents). The searchable guides provide more information about roadside prod- ucts, including, but not limited to, key attributes, drawings, pictures, and oth- er product materials. Since the last TF13 meeting in the Spring, about 20 new systems have been add- ed to the repository or guide and each of these systems received FHWA letters. Each subcommittee continues to work to add new systems to the guide as they are received. These reviews are facili- tated by the co-chairs of the subcom- mittee and submitted for peer review before being accepted into the guide. The fall meeting was held in September in Denver, Colorado, following the Road- side Safety Pooled Fund program asso- ciated with Texas A&M Transportation Institute, which allows Departments of Transportation, FHWA divisions, and other entities to pool resources to reach shared goals within the transportation industry. The next TF13 meeting will be held April 17–19, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Task Force 13 works to promote roadway safety Task Force 13meetings allow the group’smembers to work diligently to ensure roadway safety is prioritized with bridge and roadway hardware by developing, recommending, and promoting standards that guarantee optimal function, aesthetics, and economy.