View Q&A

1.) Can the soil; plate be bolted to the post after being driven?

 The installer would like to drive the post without the soil plate attached.

What size bolts and how many could be used?

2.) Post #2 " the Cable Bracket Detail shows a cut to allow a ¼" x 1.5" piece of metal cut to fold down and hold the cables in place.  These break easily sometimes during installation and regularly in a crash.

Are these mainly for installation convenience?

                Do these need to be in place for the guardrail to perform properly?

                If they are missing does the post need to be replaced?

                Is there other non proprietary/ approved methods of hooding these cables in place without being too strong?

Answers to your questions...

1)         Yes the soil plate can be added after the post is driven into the ground.  You will have to dig a hole large enough to properly place the plate on the post " note it is 2 ft wide and extends 2.5 ft below the surface.  Also, you will need to compact the soil around the post/plate when the hole is filled.  Uncompacted soil will not generate the necessary resistance for the anchor.  We use a pneumatic tamper and install soil in 8 inch lifts when we compact soil at our test site.

You can attach the plate to the downstream post flange using four 3/8  in. diameter bolts " two near the top and two near the bottom of the plate.

2)         Leaving the slots open shouldn't negatively affect the safety performance of the system.  I believe they were originally designed for maintenance issues.  I am not aware of any additional approved methods of holding the cables in the slots.