Lee, Young-Jae

Maryland. State Highway Administration. Office of Policy & Research

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This report details the Phase II analysis of the life cycle and economic efficiency of inlaid tape

and thermoplastic. Waterborne paint was included as a non-durable for comparison purposes

only. In order to find the most economical product for specific traffic and weather conditions,

the project examined the relationship between the pavement marking materials’ retroreflectivity

and input variables. For three to four years, retroreflectivity data was collected from six

locations in the state of Maryland. The sites were selected based on the amount of traffic and

snowfall they received. Phase I of this study was done with one year of data, but that data

collection period could not provide reasonable and reliable estimates of future retroreflectivity.

As hoped, a two-year extension of the data collection period produced better estimates. The

results of this research show that snowfall is a major factor in the deterioration of the

retroreflectivity. The life cycle of each material was estimated under different conditions, and

the installation cost of each material was estimated for the economic efficiency analysis. The

results suggested that specific materials should be applied for specific weather and traffic

conditions. Although inlaid tape’s estimated life cycle was longer than thermoplastic’s,

thermoplastic’s lower cost made it the more economical material for all conditions.

US Transportation Collection

SP808B4P