BSI PAS 68 & 69

The British Government, alongside manufactures have developed and introduced an alternative rating system which records not only the vehicle size, speed and penetration of the load bearing structure, but also takes into consideration the maximum major debris dispersal, the permanence of the installation and the post impact condition.

Published by BSI, the rating system has been produced by Centre for Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) and the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in conjunction with the main equipment manufacturers and is documented in BSI PAS (Publicly Available Specification) 68.

BSI PAS 68 was developed to set out the test criteria for hostile vehicle mitigation products and has been prepared to address the needs of organisations who wish to have assurance that vehicle security barriers will provide the level of impact resistance that they seek.

Many systems are available that are either promoted or considered suitable for use as vehicle security barriers. As their characteristics differ in both function and form, a comparative means of assessing their performance is required.

PAS 68 specifies a classification system for the performance of vehicle security barriers and their supporting foundations when subjected to a single horizontal impact.

In the course of the document three alternative assessment methods of determining the performance classification of vehicle security barriers are given:

• The vehicle impact method
• The pendulum method (only suitable for testing bollards at lower energy levels)
• The design method

BSI PAS 68 identifies impact test tolerances and vehicle performance criteria that need to be met. Design guidance is provided in BSI PAS 69.