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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

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Title:

The Wet Night Visibility of Pavement Markings: A Static Experiment

Abstract:

Thirty-three participants, all 60 years of age and over, evaluated the visibility of six different pavement marking materials under a simulated rain system operating at 0.8 inches (20 mm) of rain per hour at night and under dry conditions at night. The data show a high degree of correlation between the visibility distance of a marking material and the log of both the measured retroreflectivity and the log of the calculated retroreflectivity. A definitive level of retroreflectivity required to meet drivers' needs in wet night conditions was not found in the investigation and is now the subject of further study. In a second experiment, six participants evaluated the visibility of the pavement marking materials for a 10 minute interval following cessation of the simulated rain. Results of the second experiment indicate significant differences in the time required for the visual performance of a pavement marking material to recovery from rain for paint and bead products versus the other pavement marking materials under evaluation.

Source(s):

84th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Record 1911; Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and FHWA. For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 2005

Author:

Gibbons, Andersen, Hankey

Keywords:


Rain
Pavement condition
Precipitation

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