HIGHWAY SIGNING RESEARCH-A SURVEY OF MATERIALS AND RESEARCH NEEDS RELATING TO THEIR USE

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES IN HIGHWAY SIGNING MATERIALS WAS MADE. PROBLEMS IN NEED OF ADDITIONAL RESEARCH WERE IDENTIFIED, AND PLANS FOR ACCOMPLISHING THESE NEEDS WERE DELINEATED. THE VARIOUS MATERIALS AVAILABLE FOR USE, THEIR SERVICEABILITY, AND TESTS AND SPECIFICATIONS USED TO OBTAIN OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE WERE TO BE DETERMINED. A STUDY WAS MADE OF THE PATENT AND TECHNICAL LITERATURE. VISITS WERE MADE TO SIGN SHOPS, OBSERVATIONS MADE OF SIGN ENVIRONMENTS AND FIELD CONDITIONS, AND A SURVEY MADE OF STATE PRACTICES AND SPECIFICATIONS. INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON SIGN SUPPORTS, SUBSTRATES, AND SIGN FACING MATERIALS WITH EMPHASIS ON RETROREFLECTIVE MATERIALS WAS REVIEWED. A DEFINITE NEED WAS FOUND FOR INFORMATION ON THE RELATIVE SERVICEABILITY OF COMPETITIVE MATERIALS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF OBJECTIVE AND STANDARDIZED SPECIFICATIONS AND TEST PROCEDURES, INCLUDING PHOTOMETRIC EVALUATION, TO ENSURE COMPETITIVE PURCHASE OF MATERIALS AND SATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE WITH RESPECT TO VISUAL EFFECTIVENESS AND DURABILITY. AMONG THE MULTIPLICITY OF STATE SPECIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS AVAILABLE, THERE WAS NO GENERAL AGREEMENT ON WHAT IS REQUIRED OF SIGN FACING MATERIALS. THE DESCRIPTIONS AND STANDARDS APPEARED TO BE BASED MORE ON PRODUCTS THAN ON OBJECTIVE PROPERTIES.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Hpr, 07-1650, 5-1-65-86, 01JUL65
• Corporate Authors:

  Southwest Research Institute

  6220 Culebra Road, P.O. Drawer 28510
  San Antonio, TX  United States  78228-0510
• Authors:
  • Harman, C G
• Publication Date: 1965-7-1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Environment; Evaluation; Facilities; Facings; Field studies; Highways; Materials; Patents; Reflective signs; Research; Retroreflection; Reviews; Service life; Sign supports; Signs; Specifications; Substrates (Waterways); Surveys; Traffic signs; Utilization
• Uncontrolled Terms: Observation; Requirement; Substrates
• Old TRIS Terms: Field observation; Material surveys; Retrodirective reflection; Sign structures; Traffic sign materials
• Subject Areas: Design; Geotechnology; Highways; Materials; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00215822
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 1 1994 12:00AM