Recently the state of California sanctioned large scale renovations to replace the existing highway stripes with a new and long-lasting variant. The innovation came in the form of changing the material used for the road markings as well as the width of the stripes. Till now the highway road strips were 4 inches wide but now they will be replaced by a brighter and more advanced 6-inch variant.
New Glass bead retro-reflective materials for better visibility
The California DOT (department of transports) decided to completely replace the older highway stripes due to the usefulness of the new stripes. Not only the new stripes are much wider but they are also made of Glass Bead retro-reflector materials.
The light falling on the glass beads is reflected and the travellers can discern the road markings more accurately. This new material is being considered as a cost-effective replacement for the non-reflective pavement markers that are popularly known as Bott’s dots. As a result, the demand for this new road marking material has increased and many interstate highways are being inspected for being striped with this material. In the next six years as anticipated by a market study by Value Market Research the road marking materials market will be soaring high by value due to high demand worldwide.
Constraints on the application in snowy areas
The new road marking material has received a green light from various maintenance departments and will be applied on most of the major highways in the coming few months but they will not be used in highways that are above an elevation of 3000 feet.
The material of the stripes is very durable and has been proven to last long despite heavy use but the snow shovels that are frequently used in the high altitude regions have a high chance of scraping off the markings.
Advantages of the innovative road marking material
The new road marking material has a few advantages that have made it a favorable option for the highways. They are:
- The wider strips help in the long-range detection of the markings by the drivers.
- The reflective material is also helpful for conveying conditions of the road under different weather.
- Highly suited for night-time visibility or when the illumination is very less.
Implementation
The new materials have already been prepared for implementation across the country. The implementation is a 3 step process: painting, adding the tape and adding the glass beads. This is a very short process and the latter 2 steps are done after the paint is dry enough to not smear. The paint dries completely in 10 minutes, so the whole process is very fast. The new road marking materials has become a favourite and is expected to be installed at all the major highways within this year.
Nishtha Sarabhai after working for three years in a Bank switched to writing to balance her work and home. She is a mother of two beautiful kids. She enjoys writing on Aerospace, Science and new invcentions. She has been with VMR news since its inception.