System Overview
The Big Sandy Inertial Crash Cushion System (ICS) is a non-redirective, gating crash cushion, designed to shield the end of rigid objects in both temporary and/or permanent roadside installations. The Big Sandy con- sists of an array of individual free-standing plastic sand filled barrels in consecutive rows which contain gradually increasing weights of sand within the array. The Big Sandy barrels are not anchored to the road surface and do not require a transition to the barrier it is shielding. The Big Sandy can be used on concrete, asphalt, gravel, compacted dirt, and inertial (barrel/module) pallets.
Crash Performance
The Big Sandy barrels come in three configurations: 2100 lbs. (960 kg) barrels with an overall height of 52.5 in. (1336 mm), 1400 lbs. (640 kg) barrels with an overall height of 40.75 in. (1035 mm), and a two-piece combo barrel consisting of a pedestal base, and an upper canister. When assembled, the hour glass shaped combo barrel has a height of 40.3 in. (1024 mm). Combo barrels have three molded in marks designating three weight demarcation fill levels. The bottom mark designates a fill level of 200 lbs. (90 kg) of sand. The middle mark designates 400 lbs. (180 kg) of sand. The top mark designates 700 lbs. (320 kg) of sand. All Big Sandy barrels use the same 37 in. (940 mm) diameter snap on lid. The Big Sandy barrels used for TL-3 MASH testing are identical and unchanged from the Big Sandy barrels that have passed NCHRP Report 350 testing (Reference Letter CC-52A-C). The Big Sandy ICS 12 barrel array used for TL-3 MASH testing is identical to the Big Sandy 12 barrel array that passed NCHRP Report 350 testing. Because the barrels and arrays are the same, Big Sandy barrels and arrays produced since 1998 are now MASH compliant and interchangeable (Refer to MASH eligibility letter CC-139).
