AASHTO and FHWA release answers to help implement MASH AASHTO and FHWA release answers to help implement MASH Pam / Tuesday, November 16, 2021 0 5708 Article rating: 5.0 The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on Monday announced the release of responses to three questions regarding testing of roadway safety hardware under the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH), 2016. The guidance is available online and includes all new and prior questions and answers dating to May 2018. A joint AASHTO/FHWA technical working group developed the latest responses, which are created to help manufacturers, crash test laboratories and transportation agencies apply the guidelines to roadway safety devices. Read more
AASHTO council unanimously supports resolution to convert MASH into a performance spec AASHTO council unanimously supports resolution to convert MASH into a performance spec Pam / Thursday, October 28, 2021 0 5233 Article rating: No rating AASHTO’s Council on Highways and Streets voted Wednesday to support a resolution to convert the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) to a specification. The vote took place during the Council’s meeting as part of AASHTO’s annual meeting in San Diego. AASHTO maintains MASH and commissioned the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) to conduct a scoping study on the idea of converting MASH 2016 to a specification. The study was completed this year, according to a presentation by Maine Department of Transportation Chief Engineer Joyce Taylor, who serves as vice chair of AASHTO’s Committee on Design. The association also held two webinars in June with state and industry officials to address opportunities and challenges the conversion would bring. The move to convert MASH into a performance specification is aimed at “developing a more consistent testing of roadside hardware,” according to the Council on Highways and Streets resolution. Read more
AASHTO hosting webinars on results of study on converting MASH to performance-based spec AASHTO hosting webinars on results of study on converting MASH to performance-based spec Pam / Friday, May 28, 2021 0 5860 Article rating: 3.0 The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is hosting two June webinars to review the results of a study commissioned to explore the possibility of converting the Manual on Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) 2016 to a performance-based specification. AASHTO hired the Texas A&M Transportation Institute to do a scoping study to assess the effort, timeline and needs required if the change was undertaken. Results of the study will be presented at two webinars, which will include time for questions. Registration is now open. Read more
MASH scoping study discussed during AASHTO Virtual Spring Meeting 2021 MASH scoping study discussed during AASHTO Virtual Spring Meeting 2021 Pam / Wednesday, May 12, 2021 0 6153 Article rating: No rating During AASHTO's 2021 Virtual Spring Meeting on Monday, the Council on Highways and Streets (CHS) gathered to provide updates from various stakeholders. The discussion included an update on the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) scoping study to determine the feasibility and potential next steps to convert MASH into a set of performance specifications. Joyce Taylor from the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), who serves as design vice chair with AASHTO, gave an update on the MASH scoping study conducted by Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). She discussed the challenges related to current testing procedures and the gray areas within the existing manual that lead to a lack of consistency, as testing may be conducted differently by facilities. The scoping study, conducted by TTI and sponsored by AASHTO, was completed in April. Read more
FHWA issues letter to clarify eligibility process for cable barrier systems FHWA issues letter to clarify eligibility process for cable barrier systems Letter from the Office of Safety relates to the 2nd edition of MASH Pam / Wednesday, February 10, 2021 0 8352 Article rating: No rating The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued a letter clarifying the process to obtain an eligibility letter for cable barrier systems. The “open letter” from Michael S. Griffith, director of the Office of Safety Technologies in the Office of Safety, is addressed to members of the “highway safety hardware and roadside design community.” He notes that the FHWA received questions about the eligibility letter over the past several months. Read more
AASHTO and FHWA issue clarifications on implementing MASH 2016 AASHTO and FHWA issue clarifications on implementing MASH 2016 Q and A released for issues raised since May 2018 Pam / Thursday, February 4, 2021 0 6121 Article rating: No rating Information is now available that clarifies issues related to implementing the 2016 edition of the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) publishes MASH and issued the latest updates in a Question-and-Answer format. The latest information is the result of work produced by a joint technical working group of people from state departments of transportation (DOTs), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and accredited crash testing labs, according to a statement included in the release. Read more
AASHTO announces new MASH-compliant devices with federal-aid eligibility letters AASHTO announces new MASH-compliant devices with federal-aid eligibility letters Most providers on the list are ATSSA members Pam / Friday, August 7, 2020 0 7085 Article rating: No rating The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) notified ATSSA today of several new devices that recently received federal-aid eligibility letters from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The devices, which are compliant with the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH), are listed below. The majority on the list are offered by ATSSA member companies. The devices are also listed online along with FHWA letters that provide information about crash tests that were conducted. Read more
TRB, AASHTO hold joint committee meeting on roadside safety TRB, AASHTO hold joint committee meeting on roadside safety AASHTO considering converting MASH to performance specifications Pam / Tuesday, August 4, 2020 0 5711 Article rating: No rating The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Roadside Safety Design Committee and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Technical Committee on Roadside Safety met Monday with a focus on implementation and updates for the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). AASHTO announced that it is working on a scoping project intended to determine the effort it needs to invest to convert MASH into a set of performance specifications, said ATSSA Vice President of Member Services Donna Clark. Clark, Director of Innovation & Technical Services Eric Perry, and Training Program Manager Jessica Scheyder took part in TRB’s virtual summer conference, which covers a broad range of topics and continues through Aug. 13. Read more
AASHTO provides update on MASH-compliant devices AASHTO provides update on MASH-compliant devices Pam / Monday, June 29, 2020 0 6429 Article rating: No rating The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recently issued information about new Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH)-compliant devices that have been granted federal aid eligibility letters. The AASHTO communication from Director of Engineering Jim McDonnell was issued to provide an update on roadway safety devices now on the market and approved under federal guidelines. Read more
AASHTO issues updates to MASH guidance AASHTO issues updates to MASH guidance Pam / Wednesday, March 25, 2020 0 7866 Article rating: 5.0 The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) issued an update to its guidance for the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) on Tuesday. The newly published information provides three additions to the Frequently Asked Questions for MASH. Read more
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