CSS Receives VDOT Approvals for Its J-J Hooks Pin-Down And Bolt-Down Barriers

June 25, 2015 | Concrete Safety Systems News

Midland, VA – June 25, 2015 – Smith-Midland Corporation (OTCQB: SMID) – Smith-Midland and Easi-Set Worldwide jointly announced MASH approvals have been granted by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for its J-J Hooks ™ pin-down and bolt-down anchored barrier system. The pin-down system received VDOT MASH approval in July of 2013 and has been in use at several Mid-Atlantic area locations, and the bolt-down system received VDOT MASH approval in March of 2015. Both are currently available for rental through Smith-Midland’s barrier rental company, Concrete Safety Systems, and for manufacturing through a licensing agreement with Easi-Set Worldwide, a subsidiary of the Smith-Midland Corporation.

MASH is the current federal requirement for assessing safety hardware and is an acronym for Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), “This Manual is recommended for highway design engineers, bridge engineers, safety engineers, researchers, hardware developers, crash test laboratories, and others concerned with safety features used in the highway environment.”

J-J Hooks Concrete Safety Barriers are approved for use in free-standing (NCHRP350 TL3 tested), and bolted or pinned (MASH TL3 tested) installations. They are currently the lowest in cost-to-produce; offer the fastest setting times, the lowest installation costs, and the smallest installation crews versus any other system. In addition to traditional highway applications, J-J Hooks have a long history of use in a wide range of event security and crowd control situations.

“Our J-J Hooks barriers have been used on a large variety of high-profile projects for more than two decades,” said Ashley Smith, President of Smith-Midland. “We continue to build sustainable concrete products and provide quality solutions for the precast industry and our customers, while continually advancing to the next level of durability, cost-effectiveness and safety.”

Joe Steven, Superintendent with Ajax Paving Company, said, “We’re extremely happy with road barriers that have the J-J Hooks connection. They are much quicker and easier to work with. There is no reason for our guys to have their hands and fingers in the way since there is no loose hardware to put in place. Overall, we’re very impressed with the way this project is going using J-J Hooks road barriers.” Another J-J Hooks customer shared his experience with the Smith-Midland barriers, “Two men and a crane can install 6,000 feet in one shift.”