532 Vehicles, materials or any other equipment shall not be stored in the Temporary Barrier buffer area. Unless required as a part of the contract, vehicles and equipment shall not work in the Temporary Barrier buffer area and if required, shall be limited to that time that it is necessary to be in that area.
636.15 Removing and Resetting Temporary Barriers :
Temporary barriers that are to be relocated w ithin a project shall be salvaged and reinstalled as specified in subection 636.14 and set as indicated on the Plans.
636.16 Temporary Guardrail :
636.16.1 Temporary Guardrail Barrier: Temporary guardrail barrier shall consist of
guardrail (beam) mounted on six ( 6) feet three ( 3) inches post spacing with blockouts, conforming to the requirements of Section 607. Where temporary guardrail barrier adjoins concrete barrier, bridge parapet, or other essentially non -yielding obstacle, regardless if one is temporary and the other is permanent (newly constructed or previously in existence) or if both are temporary, they must be connected with a Temporary Guardrail Connector conforming to subsection 636.16.2.
636.16.2 Temporary Guardrail Connector: This connector shall consist of the last 25
feet of guardrail (beam) prior to the physical connection to a non -yield ing barrier or obstacle, mounted on three ( 3) feet 1½ inches post spacing with blockouts, conforming to Standard Sheet
G.R. 5 and an End Shoe conforming to Standard Sheet G.R. 2A. Four bolts shall be used in the End Shoe and standard posts may be substitu ted for the oversized wood posts.
636.17 Removing and Resetting Temporary Guardrail Barrier :
Temporary guardrail barrier that is to be relocated within the project shal l be salvaged and reinstalled as specified in 636.16.
636.18 Electric Arrow :
The electric arrow panel shall be located as shown in the manual, "Manual on Temporary Traffic Control for Streets and Highways," or as shown on the Plans. For construction areas, the electric arrow shall be portable, trailer mounted on a nonreflective flat black panel forty - eight (48) inches high by ninety -six (96) inches wide with a minimum legibility distance of one mile. Minimum mounting height, measured from the roadway to the bottom of the panel, shall be seven ( 7) feet except on vehicle mounted panels which shall be as high as practicable. The electric arrow shall have the capability of the following mode selectio n: Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Left and Right Arrow and Caution, with Caution mode consisting of four or more lamps arranged in a pattern which will not indicate a direction. Arrow panels shall automatically dim 50 percent (50%) from their rated lamp voltag e during hours of darkness. The flashing rate of the lamps shall be between 25 and 40 flashes per minute. Minimum lamp "on time" shall be 50 percent (50%) .
636.19 Portable Message Signs :
636.19 1-General: Portable Message signs shall consist of the furnishing, installing and
maintaining of a variable message sign on a portable trailer. Each unit shall be self -contained and consist of a display board, controller, power supply, electrical cable and adjustable height structural support system. It shall be equipped to accept power supply from a completely self - contained diesel generator, existing commercial electrical service, or battery pack which is recharged automatically by solar panels. The tr ailer system assemblage shall conform to the 533 laws of the State of West Virginia and all articles of the licensing regulations presently in effect. The sign shall only be attached to its tow vehicle when installation or removal is in progress. The trailer a nd its leveling jacks shall be designed to keep the unit from changing its deployed position once placed. Devices that lock the wheels and/or leveling jacks into place shall be employed. Sandbagging of the frame and/or leveling jacks is not an acceptable m anner of lock down. The unit shall be kept in good repair at all times. The Contractor shall maintain the device if failures occur. Failure, malfunction or damage to the unit for any reason shall require the Contractor to expedite the repair and furnish adequate signing and flaggers as deemed necessary by the Engineer to safely control traffic through the work area. Maintenance shall include periodic cleaning of the unit. All parts of the system shall comply with codes annotated in the National Fire Pr otection Association and Underwriters Laboratory and all local electrical codes. Earth ground shall be tied to the sign's chassis. Lightning protection shall be supplied for the load site.
636.19.2 Display: The Portable Message Sign shall be the disc matrix or LED lamp matrix
panel type capable of operating in temperatures from –30° to +160° F and capable of displaying alphanumeric characters and arrows. The sign panel assembly, including the mounting brackets, shall not exceed 128 inches in overall wi dth. The bottom of the sign panel shall be a minimum of seven ( 7) feet above the roadway. A minimum character height of eighteen (18) inches, and character spacing at a minimum of two dots or one half the character width, unless otherwise approved by Engin eer. The trailer shall be marked with a minimum of 200 square inches of four (4) inch alternating red/white conspicuity marking material (WV Type VI / Fed. Type IX Retroreflective sheeting) to be visible by motorists approaching the trailer from any direction. If battery backup (in event of power interruption) is called for on the plans, all functional operations to include sign lighting shall be operational up to two hours. Fluorescent lighting or LED lamp matrix shall be applied to provide nightti me visibility and the intensity of the sign shall be adjustable by automatically dimming or manual control.
636.19.3 Sign Types:
636.19.3 1 -Changeable Message Sign: The Changeable Message Sign system shall
have three (3) lines, unless otherwise noted on the plans and shall conform to the general requirements of subsection 636.19.1. The unit shall have several preprogrammed messages and be capable of programming at le ast fifty new messages and storing such. The controller shall be housed in a weatherproof lockable cabinet that is accessible from a suitable mounting on the trailer. The controller shall be a microprocessor controller or laptop computer with an incorporat ed keyboard and CRT that allows the users to access, generate, and store messages. The controller display shall be a miniaturized approximation of the actual display or a message being assembled. The display shall be yellow or amber character on black back ground, a 7 x 5 -character font. The cycle time and duration of message for a changeable message sign is a function of the highway operating speeds and the size letters displayed. The entire message should be visible at least twice at the operating speed. When traveling at 65 MPH (freeway speeds), a driver has approximately seven (7) seconds to read the message, the message should not be longer than four (4) words or numbers and not longer than two (2) units of information. The message displayed from each u nit shall be visible from one -half (1/2) mile. 534 The sign shall be capable of changing to and displaying a programmed default message or four corner dots flashing in the event of power failure.
636.19.3 2 -Speed Monitoring Trailer: A Speed Monitoring Tr ailer system shall
conform to the general requirements of 636.19 and shall consist of a trailer, radar, and display. The unit should be operational only while work is in progress.
636.19.3 2.1 -Radar: The radar unit shall be capable of an output in mile s per hour
(mph) and operating at a frequency of 24.15 GHz (K -Band) ± 100 MHz accurate to within 3 mph at a target speed of 10 to 199 mph.
636.19.3 2.2 -Display: The display board shall be a minimum two -digit, high
brightness, amber display on a black bac kground. The system shall be equipped with a violator alert feature. This feature shall change the display from steady amber to flashing amber and flash the speed reading when a vehicle exceeds a programmable speed threshold. This threshold shall be adju stable. The display shall be mounted a minimum height of four ( 4) feet above the roadway. A seven (7) inch by thirty -six ( 36)-inch plaque reading “YOUR SPEED” in black letters on a yellow background shall be mounted directly above or directly below the display. The rack shall be secured with a lockable fastener and shall provide room to mount a minimum thirty ( 30) inch by thirty -six ( 36) inch speed limit sign (R2 -1) above the display.
636.19.4 Placement: Portable message signs that are not adequately shielded from
impacts by utilizing barriers or terrain as described herein to the satisfaction of the Engineer shall be operational at all times to provide clear visibility. This shall include time periods allowed herein when such devices are t emporarily no longer needed to serve their intended function of contributing to the efficient or safe operation of the work zone. In such cases the Contractor shall modify the speed displayed on the static speed limit sign accordingly if the speed limit i n effect through the work area is changed, and changeable message signs shall be set to flashing warning mode or shall display an alternative generic message approved by the Engineer if a specific informational message is not currently required. In such c ases, if the device is not expected to be needed for an entire daylight period or for more than four (4) hours at night, the device shall be temporarily relocated to a shielded location or other location off of the shoulder, either of which shall be approv ed by the Engineer. Placement of and messages displayed on portable message signs shall be approved by the Engineer. A changeable message sign and a speed monitoring trailer are not to be placed where they conflict with one another. Plan placement loc ations may be adjusted as needed in the field, with the Engineer’s approval, in order to achieve greater advance sight distance and/or to utilize other existing devices or terrain features such as temporary barrier, guardrail, or benches to shield the devi ce from impacts. A minimum sight distance of 800 feet should be achieved if possible, provided the device will maintain the operational function as intended by the placement location shown in the plans. Devices placed behind concrete barriers or guardrai l should be placed at and behind the downstream end of such features if possible. The approach to all portable message signs not adequately shielded from impacts to the satisfaction of the Engineer shall be delineated with traffic cones, channelizer cones, or drums. The delineation devices shall be tapered from the outside edge of the paved shoulder, or outside
Source: West Virginia Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, 2023 Edition. Pages 552–554 of 1,006.