U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Research has produced various pavement marking material selection tools.(See references 50 through 55) These studies were generally conducted at the State level and produced recommended marking materials using a matrix of factors. Criteria for marking material selection in the various reports included traffic volume, road surface, environmental conditions, remaining expected road surface life, placement of new markings vs. restriping existing markings, costs, and location of marking.
An FHWA study nearing completion has the goal of developing a pavement marking selection tool to aid in selecting the most appropriate material for a given situation.(50) The report and tool are expected to provide a more effective and uniform guide to select pavement marking material. The tool was designed to take user inputs, perform service life and cost analysis, and then provide recommendations for selecting pavement marking materials. The tool has retroreflectivity degradation factors based on pavement marking test deck data from the National Transportation Product Evaluation Program and other sources in the literature.
The computational procedure of the tool consists of the following steps:
Figure 3 shows the results screen, which provides the top two materials based on the life cycle cost analysis, given the project characteristics and constraints. Each recommendation includes the expected unit cost of material, expected project cost, annual life-cycle cost, and expected service life of the recommended material.
Suggested Marking Material #1 | Waterborne Paint |
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Expected Unit Cost ($/ft) | $0.200 |
Expected Project Cost ($/job) | $5,280 |
Life Cycle Cost ($/yr) | $2,377 |
Expected Service Life (months) | 28 |
Suggested Marking Material #2 | High Build Paint |
---|---|
Expected Unit Cost ($/ft) | $0.360 |
Expected Project Cost ($/job) | $9,504 |
Life Cycle Cost ($/yr) | $4,278 |
Expected Service Life (months) | 29 |
Figure 3. Screenshot. Results screen. (50)