Road Weather Management Program
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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

Title:

Wet-Night Visibility of Pavement Markings: Executive Summary

Abstract:

The research sought to answer the following questions: what level of retroreflectivity do drivers need under rain conditions and what levels of retroreflectivity are current pavement markings and markers capable of producing under various rain conditions? The rain conditions include the period during rainfall of various intensities within a defined range and the recovery period (drying) after rain has stopped. The research also sought to test the suitability of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) measurement methods for wet pavement marking retroreflectivity. The findings should then be used to develop performance measures for evaluating wet night retroreflectivity of pavement delineation devices and a performance-based specification that is based on the visibility needs of motorists during wet night conditions, perhaps even one for inclusion in the Virginia DOT's Road and Bridge Specifications.

Source(s):

Virginia Transportation Research Council, Prepared by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/05-cr4.pdf

Date: 2004

Author:

Gibbons, Hankey, Pashaj

Keywords:


Pavement condition
Visibility
Precipitation

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