PAVEMENT MARKING MATERIALS: A SUMMARY OF NEW YORK STATE RESEARCH

This report summarizes pavement making materials research conducted by New York from 1960 through 1975. Work concentrated on three general classes of marking materials -- traffic paints reflectorized with glass beads, raised reflective markers, and alternative pavement markings including thermoplastics. Many paint families and formulations were investigated in several pavement test installations. Modified alkyds with and without chlorinated-rubber provided the best service, with modified alkyds generally the most cost-effective. Pavement pretreatments (acid etching and primery) proved ineffective for improving paint durability on concrete pavements. Studies of hot-applied traffic paints determined that these dried much faster than cold-applied paints, eliminating the need for coning; durability was generally close to that of cold paints. While raised reflective markings have shown promise for wet-night delineation, several problems have prevented their widespread use. The metal casting are subject to damage by carbide-tipped snowplow blade, and damage the blades. In addition, reflector durability has been poor, due to damage by snowplow blades and nose shoes. Hot-extruded thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic glue-down marking haveprovided highly variable performance on portland cement concrete pavement. While they have generally performed well on asphalt cement concrete pavement, their use has been limited by high initial cost. Based on this research, and on performance and cost experience gathered through the years, New York's standard pavement marking material (adopted in 1973) is a hot-applied modified-alkyd traffic paint with a specified drying time of 20 seconds, reflectorized with glass beads having a refraction index of 1.50 to 1.65.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by DOT, Federal Highway Administration.
• Corporate Authors:

  New York State Department of Transportation

  Engineering Research and Development Bureau, 1220 Washington Avenue
  Albany, NY  United States  12232
• Authors:
  • Bryden, J E
• Publication Date: 1977-5

Media Info

• Pagination: 25 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alkyd resins; Chlorinated rubber; Cost effectiveness; Durability; Glass beads; Pressure gages; Reflective signs; Reflectorized paint; Road marking materials; Thermoplastic materials; Traffic paint
• Uncontrolled Terms: Relationships
• Old TRIS Terms: Pressure sensors; Reflector markers; Traffic marking materials
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00158087
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: NYSDOT-ERD-77-RR 48,, Final Report
• Contract Numbers: HPR-FCP4111-045
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Oct 13 2003 12:00AM