Types of road marking
Road marking refers to marked highway coverage. It is designed to transmit certain notifications to everyone involved in traffic. The first markings appeared at the beginning of the 20th century on concrete and asphalt carriageways. There are two types of elements – permanent and temporary. Road marking is carried out strictly according to the standards of the State Automobile Inspection. The color for the coating is chosen according to the criterion of contrast directly with the road, often the paint is white, but the temporary markings are applied in red or orange.
Classification of road markings
In accordance with the GOST rules, road markings are counted by several dozen signs. In order to make it easier to understand, it is customary to classify them according to several types:
- Longitudinal marking. It is located virtually on any stretch of road. Put it in order to indicate the boundaries of the lanes, also such marking guides the flow of traffic on the road.
- Cross marking. This type of marking, first of all, gives instructions to pedestrians. It is perpendicular to the traffic and informs car owners that you need to slow down and carefully monitor the presence of people on the markup, stop on time. People call this type of “zebra.”
- Arrows It is not difficult to understand that these images are intended to indicate the direction of movement. Sometimes there are arrows with several branches – this suggests that there is an opportunity to choose where to move on. Often the arrows are duplicated by road signs since, during the active flow of cars, you can not notice this type of marking on the roadway.
- This is not as common a markup as the previous ones. They are depicted in the form of a bicycle. You can also find a drawing of a wheelchair user. Accordingly, the first option suggests that only cyclists can pass here, and the second option indicates a parking space for people whose capabilities are limited.
There is also horizontal and vertical marking. Road marking 1.1 is horizontal. The number “1.1” means a whole group of various markings, the vertical marking “2” – similar to the first situation.
The technical side of the marking
An important point is a road marking paint, which you can buy in specialized stores, taking into account the characteristics of the roadway, where marking will be applied. There are rules, following which road markings are applied. Several parameters are taken into account:
- Paint color;
- The thickness of the paint;
- Used type of paint;
- Application Method
To determine whether the masters correctly laid this or that marking, special services use a wedge thicknesser for road marking. With it, you can measure the thickness of that marking, which was laid with a thick coating, such as a polymer tape, thermoplastic, cold plastic. In the design of this equipment, there is a strap and a wedge. Each element is made of stainless steel.
Markup stages
The first stage – preliminary marking
The stage is carried out manually or using additional devices that are included in the set of marking machines. The marking place is protected from the movement of other modes of transport. The main control points are determined based on the location of which the road markings will be applied. They are calculated using a curvimeter and recorded with chalk marks. Subsequently, they will be applied for preliminary marking.
Coating preparation
The second stage is the preparation of pavement for road marking. The road must be free of dirt and dust. For this purpose, use a watering-washing machine or a machine with brush and blower equipment.
The road should dry and be clean for further marking of the road. It is allowed to use specialized gas rulers-heaters or injection gas-air burners.
If there is an old marking on the road that is subject to change or if its thickness is more than 6 millimeters, then it should be removed first. Also, the old marking is subject to removal if there is a danger of its peeling along with the new one.
Unsuitable road marking can be removed in several ways: mechanically (special mechanisms are used that remove the old markings and, if necessary, cut asphalt up to two millimeters thick) hydraulically (old markings are washed off under the pressure of the water, asphalt cutting is acceptable, as with mechanical removal) painting (marking it is painted over the color of the road surface, but only if it is necessary to remove the markings for a short time, since the time of use of such paint on the road coverage is small).
Transport Security
In order for the road markings to be applied evenly and not to be spoiled under the influence of vehicles moving along the road, special barriers and signs are used. They are installed at the marking points and remain there until the road markings completely dry.
Road marking
The center lines are painted first. The remaining lines of the road marking are parallel to it and therefore are applied by a marking machine with a telescopic bracket.
For applying road markings, only special paints and plastics that meet the requirements of GOST are used. Paint is applied only at a certain temperature and humidity. These data are indicated in the instructions for its use. The average temperature for applying paint should not be less than 15 degrees, and humidity should not exceed 85%.
Paints, consisting of one component, are applied only to a cleaned and dry surface, for more reliable fixation and speedy drying. An exception is some multi-component paints. The instructions for use indicate a dry or wet surface. It is necessary to apply material for road marking.
For proper application of paint for road marking, it is recommended to use equipment that matches the paint used.
Road markings are applied pneumatically or hydraulically. That is, using atomization with or without air. Application of paint for road marking takes place in several stages:
- material preparation
- check-marking equipment
- fencing of the site on which the work will be carried out
- road marking
- protection of the coating until completely dry
- removal of fences
The initial preparation of the material consists of mixing the paint if it consists of several components or mixing until uniform and filtering if the paint is one-component.
After pouring the paint into the tank of the spraying machine, the equipment is installed on the side of the road, on which the trial painting will be carried out.
If the test is successful, the machine begins to move in the direction of the flow of the machines. In this case, the pavement is painted.
Modern technology allows you to adjust the length of the strokes, using the capabilities of the on-board computer programs.
Road marking: manual application
Typically, road markings are applied using special techniques, but in some cases, it is acceptable to use hand tools for painting small or difficult areas to apply the material with marking techniques.
As tools, brushes, rollers, and patterns for applying road markings are used. In some cases, spray guns are used. They are usually included with the marking machines.
The main tool when applying road markings manually is a template. Its use ensures the accuracy of the size of the marking lines. A prerequisite for the template is also considered the ease of cleaning from paint.
Usually, aluminum or steel sheets with a thickness of about 1.5 mm are used as templates.
What methods of applying road marking does STiM use?
STiM company uses two methods of applying road marking:
- With paint
- Using plastic
Paint marking is the cheapest. This method is used for marking carriageways in parking lots and territories adjacent to residential areas.
The application of road markings using plastic is characterized by high wear resistance, as well as high visibility in the day and night.
Road Marking Color
The decisive criterion for choosing the marking color was its contrast with respect to the color of the road surface. For road marking, white and yellow colors are mainly used, as they are particularly contrasting to gray and black coatings.