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Title:

NIGHTTIME VISIBILITY AND RETROREFLECTANCE OF PAVEMENT MARKINGS IN DRY, WET, AND RAINY CONDITIONS

Accession Number:

00962117

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States
Order URL: http://www.trb.org/Main/Public/Blurbs/153105.aspx

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Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309085578

Abstract:

Research was conducted to determine the nighttime visibility of flat pavement-marking tape, patterned pavement-marking tape, and wet-weather pavement-marking tape in dry, wet (just after rainfall), and simulated rain conditions (ongoing 1-in./h rainfall). The measures of effectiveness were the detection distances, the eye-fixation distributions, and the pavement-marking retroreflectance. The research was sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration. The experiment was conducted on a test track in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. This test track had a section at which 1-in./h rainfall could be simulated. Eleven women and seven men, ranging in age from 55 to 74 (average age 62.5), participated in this study. The participants drove the experiment vehicles along the pavement-marking treatments. The participants were to state the earliest point at which they could see the end of the pavement markings. The retroreflectance of each pavement-marking material was measured with three handheld retroreflectometers under the three weather conditions according to ASTM E-1710 (dry), ASTM E-2177 (wet recovery), and ASTM E-2176 (continuous wetting). The retroreflectance values were correlated to the detection distances to determine the ability of each ASTM test method to predict visibility performance under the corresponding weather condition. The wet-weather tape performed best for detection distance, followed by the patterned tape and the flat tape. The detection distances were longest in the dry condition, shorter in the wet condition, and shortest in the simulated rain condition.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1824, Highway Maintenance Safety, Support, and Services.

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Schnell, T
Aktan, F
Lee, Y-C

Pagination:

p. 144-155

Publication Date:

2003

Serial:

Transportation Research Record

Issue Number: 1824
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISSN: 0361-1981

ISBN:

0309085578

Features:

Figures (9) ; References (3) ; Tables (5)

Uncontrolled Terms:

Geographic Terms:

Subject Areas:

Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; I60: Maintenance

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Aug 19 2003 12:00AM

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