DEVELOPMENT OF PAVEMENT MARKING SYSTEMS FOR SNOWFALL AREAS

This research effort considered both retroreflective (pavement pretreatment which raise and protect significant portions of conventional paint stripes, low-profile expendable markers, markers which yield to scraping action of snowplows and then restore themselves, markers which employ a protective housing to raise a snowplow blade over the reflective element) and light emitting (electrically powered markers, chemically or radioactive powered markers) systems. Installation techniques were developed and experimetnal quantities of markers were fabricated or obtained for the field test. Some marking systems provided 2-way wet-night delineation, and others provide only one-way delineation. The minimal 2-way wet-night visibility needed by drivers can be provided by thermo-plastic stripes and the ridged strip system at a low additional cost over that of inadequate paint strips. At costs somewhat higher than those of the minimal systems, one-way flap-type markers such as the 3M and TTI replaceable as well as one-way protected markers such as Stimsonite 99 can be used to provide wet-night guidance equivalent to normal dry-night guidance, even when pavement drainage is very poor. The 2-way rigid electric lighted marker was the most effective and most expensive of all markers tested.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Prepared for the Transportation Research Board, National Cooperative Highway Research Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System, 1600 E Lamar Boulevard
  Arlington, TX  United States  76011
• Publication Date: 1978-2-23

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 65 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Chemicals; Electric power; Field tests; Highway delineators; Installation; Night visibility; Radioactive materials; Retroreflectors; Road marking materials; Road markings; Snow; Snowplows; Thermoplastic materials; Visibility
• Old TRIS Terms: Delineators (Traffic); Traffic marking; Traffic marking materials; Wheel path
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00172910
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NCHRP Project 5-5B Final Rpt.
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 12 1978 12:00AM