Lee, Young-Jae

Morgan State University. Dept. of Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Studies

MD-11-SP808B4P

Tech Report

Maryland

Maryland. State Highway Administration. Office of Policy & Research

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.

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SP808B4P

US Transportation Collection