Improved visibility at night with wet floors or in rain
- Highways Magazine No. 138 - January / February 2005
Juan Ramon Jimenez
Sovitec Ibérica SA
ABSTRACT
The official standards define under what conditions the use of road markings able to maintain its properties in rain or wet pavement needed. These special marks, called Type 2, can be designed using glass microspheres larger diameter than conventional. These spheres protrude from the water film while maintaining a sufficient level of retroreflection during rain or when the pavement still wet after finishing it.
Applications made in Spain show, for example, obtainable dry retroreflection values (at six months of the application) of 550 mcd.m-2.lux-1, 273 130 and wet in the rain for a system that combines traditional areas and spheres of large diameter. The reference system, made only traditional areas, shows values 320-2 mcd.m-1.lux (dry), 61 (wet) and 16 (in the rain). The values obtained with the type system 2 comfortably meet the requirements of the UNE-EN-1436.
KEYWORDS
2 type road markings, thick glass microspheres, Night visibility in rain, wet Retroreflection, Retroreflection in the rain.
