A common issue during phased highway construction projects is the need to temporarily relocate large guide signs on the roadside or install new guide signs for temporary use. The conventional concrete foundations used for these signs are costly and time-consuming to install and remove after construction is completed. A freestanding, skid-mounted support system for temporary large guide signs was developed and successfully crash-tested in accordance with the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) guidelines. The design considered wind loads, ballast requirements, and impact performance. The skid-mounted design eliminates the need for below-ground footers, and permits rapid movement and relocation of the sign. The results of the research have been used to establish guidelines for both the direct embedded temporary wood support system (developed in the first year of the project) and the skid-mounted support system. The guidelines provide the designer with a means of selecting the appropriate number, size, and grade of support posts for a given sign panel size. (Author/publisher)
Abstract