MASH Implementation Tracking The changes WSDOT is making toward MASH compliance

Item Revision Effective Date Notes

(Old) Beam Guardrail Type 1 continued phase-out

Design Manual guidance modified to continue phasing out of Type 1 guardrail. Type 1 design guidance (placement cases, terminal guidance) moved from the Design Manual to website

July 2017

There are no plans to pursue a MASH compliant version of these systems. The mandatory compliance date for this category is January 2018

Beam Guardrail Type 31 Transition Section Type 20 removed

Standard Plan C-25.18-05 will be removed.

July 2017

There are currently no plans to pursue a MASH compliant version of this system. Use a Type 21 transition instead.

Beam guardrail Type 31 non-flared terminals now must be MASH Compliant

Amendment to the Standard Specification will require MASH compliance for these proprietary systems

Jan. 6, 2017

What is MASH? The AASHTO Manual for Assessment of Safety Hardware (or MASH) sets testing criteria for roadside hardware, and updates the previous standard called NCHRP 350. MASH criteria deals with the rules associated with the crash-testing of safety hardware. WSDOT issued a Project Delivery memo in November 2016.

Why Now? Introduced in 2009, the voluntary approach to testing and installing hardware using MASH criteria was largely unsuccessful. FHWA and AASHTO Subcommittee on Highways recently adopted an implementation schedule mandating the use of MASH compliant devices. According to this schedule, for contracts with advertisement dates after the dates shown, only safety hardware successfully tested to meet MASH criteria will be allowed for new permanent installations and full replacements. The schedule is based on categories of safety hardware, and is shown in Table 1.

Date Category

December 31, 2017 w-beam barriers and cast-in-place concrete barriers

June 30, 2018 w-beam terminals December 31, 2018 cable barriers, cable barrier terminals, and

crash cushions December 31, 2019 bridge rails, transitions, all other

longitudinal barriers (including portable barriers installed permanently), all other terminals, sign supports, and all other breakaway hardware

Table 1: MASH Compliance Categories and Dates (from FHWA AASHTO joint implementation schedule)

Note that these dates should be considered “no-later than” dates. It is WSDOT’s intent that some categories (or sub-categories) will be transitioned to MASH compliance well in advance of the dates shown in the table. For example, Type 31 beam guardrail non-flared terminals will be transitioned to MASH compliance in January of 2017, one year ahead of the FHWA/AASHTO schedule

As a designer, what does this mean to me?

Nothing major, for now…just stay tuned. Ultimately, over time, the roadside safety hardware we use (and are familiar with) will change. Some systems will be modified, some systems will be eliminated and new systems will emerge. These changes will affect many items within the broad categories shown in table 1.

Most changes will occur through changes to specifications (that will require MASH compliance), or changes to Standard Plans (as systems are modified, added or eliminated).

For a given proprietary item, the WSDOT Qualified Products List (QPL) description will generally identify whether the product is NCHRP 350 or MASH compliant.

Important Note The implementation of MASH criteria does not require the replacement of existing NCHRP 350 devices. It sets a schedule for restricting their use for new permanent installations and full replacements. It also sets a deadline for the phasing out of temporary/WZTC devices as their service lives expire. NCHRP 350 devices remain functional and can be left in place through their service life.