AASHTO-AGC-ARTBA Joint Committee
Subcommittee on New Highway Materials
Task Force 13 Report

A Guide to Standardized Highway Barrier Hardware

ONLINE HARDWARE GUIDE - COMPONENT INDEX

COMPONENT INDEX

• COMPONENT NOMENCLATURE
• FASTENER COMPONENTS
• POST COMPONENTS
• RAIL COMPONENTS
• NEW SUBMISSIONS

COMPONENT NOMENCLATURE

In this Guide, barrier components are categorized as fasteners, post components, or rail components. Fasteners include bolts, nuts, and washers. Post components are those parts that serve as guardrail posts and parts connected to them, such as soil plates and guardrail post blockouts. Rail elements include the parts required to splice rail elements together and special elements like those used in terminals as well as the actual rails themselves. Each component has been assigned a unique designator that identifies the component.

Valid component designators are shown in the table below. Designators consist of three upper-case letters, two digits, and an optional lower-case letter. The first letter denotes Fastener, Post, or Rail components. The next two letters categorize the component more specifically. For example, FWC20 is a fastener (FWC20) that is a washer (FWC20), specifically a circular washer (FWC20). The designator further indicates that this the twentieth in the series of circular washers (FWC20). Post and rail components are organized in a similar manner. For example, RWM02a is a rail component (RWM02a) made from a W-beam section (RWM02a). It is a main rail element (RWM02a), the second in the series of W-beam main rail elements (RWM02a), and an AASHTO M-180 Class A rail (RWM02a).

Threaded fasteners like bolts, screws, nuts and circular washers use the nominal metric diameter of the fastener as the two digit part of the designator. Thus, FBX16a is a 5/8-inch [16-mm] diameter hex head bolt. Threaded fasteners also use the letters "a" and "b" to denote standard strength (a) and high strength (b) components. For example, an FBX16a bolt should generally be used with an FNX16a nut and FWC16a washer. When used as the last character in a threaded fastener component, the letter "a" always means that the component is either an ASTM A307 Grade A [ASTM F568M Class 4.6] bolt or is meant to be used with one. The "b" designator means that the component is either an ASTM A325/A325M bolt or is meant to be used with one. For example, FWC16b is a hardened steel washer required when using high strength ASTM A325/A325M bolts (e.g. an FBX16b bolt and nut). FWC16a is a plain washer conforming to ANSI B18.22/B18.22M (e.g. an FBX16a bolt and nut).

W- and thrie-beam rails with numbers less than ten correspond to the number of spacings in a standard 150-inch [3810-mm] panel. For example, RWM02a and RTM02a have two 75-inch [1905-mm] post spacings in the panel whereas RWM03a and RTM03a have three 50-inch [1270-mm] post spacings in the same length panel. Numbers above ten are simply sequential and have no particular meaning. The last character in the designator for W- and thrie-beam guardrail components corresponds to AASHTO M-180 Class A or B. Thus, RWE04a is made of Class A material (i.e. 12 gage [2.67-mm thick]) and RWM02b of Class B (i.e. 10 gage [3.43-mm thick]).

Category	Function	Type	Sequence Number	Option
Fastener	Bolt/Screw	Button Head Bolt Carriage Bolt Hook Bolt Lag Screw Cap Screw Toggle Bolt HeX Head Bolt	01-99 01-99 01-99 01-99 01-99 01-99 01-99	a-b
	Cable	Anchor Cable Cable Clip	01-99 01-99
	Miscellaneous	Miscellaneous Work Zone	01-99; 01-99
	Nut	Square Nut HeX Nut	01-99 01-99	a-b
	Plate	Anchor Plate Bearing Plate Clamp Plate Post Fitting	01-99 01-99 01-99 01-99
	Rod/Bar	Hooked Anchor Stud J-Hook Anchor Stud Straight Anchor Stud Threaded Rod	01-99 01-99 01-99 01-99	a-b a-b a-b a-b
	Washer	Circular Rectangular	01-99 01-99	a-b
Post	Aluminum C-section WooD Flange Channel PLate COncrete Plastic/Composite S-section Tube Steel W-section	Blockout/Bracket Soil Embedded Foundation Mounted Soil Plate	01-99	a-b
Rail	Aluminum Box Cable WooD PlatE ChanneL COncrete Pipe Thrie Beam W-beam	Backup Plate End Section Main Member Rub Rail Splice Transition Spacer/EXpansion	01-99	a-b

FASTENERS

The components shown below have been approved for inclusion in the Guide by the Barrier Subcommittee of Task Force 13.

• FBB01-05: Guardrail Bolt & Recessed Nut
• FBH01-03: Cable Hook Bolt & Nut
• FBH04: Shouldered Cable Hook Bolt & Nut
• FBX06a-24a: Hex Bolt & Nut
• FBX16b-36b: High-Strength Structural Hex Bolt & Nut
• FMM01: Cable Wedge
• FNS20: Square Nut
• FNX06a-36a: Hex Nuts
• FNX16b-36b: High-Strength Structural Hex Nuts
• FPA02: Cable Guardrail Anchor Bracket
• FPB03: Anchor Bolt Bearing Plate
• FPP01: Box Beam Guardrail Support Bracket
• FPP04: Box Beam Rail Support Plate
• FRH16a-36b: Hooked Anchor Stud & Nuts
• FRS16a-36b: Straight Anchor Stud & Nuts
• FWC06a-36a: Plain Round Washer
• FWC12b-36b: Hardened Round Washer
• FWR01: Square Guardrail Washer

POSTS

The components shown below have been approved for inclusion in the Guide by the Barrier Subcommittee of Task Force 13.

• PDB01a-b: W-Beam Timber Blockout
• PDB02a-b: Thrie Beam Timber Blockout
• PDE01-08: Timber Guardrail Post
• PDE13: Strong Round Timber Guardrail Post
• PDE14: Strong Round Timber Median Barrier Post
• PDE15: Timber Median Barrier Post
• PFE01: Flanged-Channel Post
• PLS02: Trapezoidal Soil Plate
• POF03: Cable Guardrail Terminal Anchor Assembly
• PSE01: Cable Guardrail Post & Welded Soil Plate
• PSE02: Cable Median Barrier Post & Soil Plate
• PSE03: Weak Post Guardrail Post & Welded Soil Plate
• PSE06: Cable Guardrail Anchor Post
• PSE07-09: Weak Post Box Beam Post & Welded Soil Plate
• PWB01: W-Beam Guardrail Blockout
• PWB03: Modified Thrie Beam Blockout
• PWE01-04: Wide-Flange Guardrail Post
• PWE05: Wide-Flange Median Barrier Post
• PWF01: Culvert Mounted Guardrail Post

RAILS

The components shown below have been approved for inclusion in the Guide by the Barrier Subcommittee of Task Force 13.

• RBM01: Square Box Beam Rail
• RBM11: Box Beam Median Barrier Rail
• RBS01: Square Box Beam Splice
• RBS02: Rectangular Box Beam Splice
• RCE01: Compensating Cable End Assembly
• RCE03: Cable End Fitting
• RCM01: Wire Rope
• RER01: Bent Plate Rub Rail
• RLR01: Channel-Section Rub Rail & Splice
• RTB01a-b: Thrie-Beam Back-up Plate
• RTM01a-02b: 1- & 2-Space Thrie-Beam Guardrail
• RWB01a-b: W-Beam Back-up Plate
• RWM02a-b: 2-Space W-Beam Guardrail

NEW SUBMISSIONS

The components shown below have not yet been approved for inclusion in the Guide by the Barrier Subcommittee of Task Force 13. They are included here for review and information only.