Smart pavement marking maintenance

Road pavement marking maintenance – the smart way

With global material shortages and budgetary constraints, as well as the challenges created by ADAS and connected autonomous vehicle (CAV) developments, there is a real need to use the latest innovations in road marking condition surveys to prioritize maintenance

Words | Joe Turley, CEO, Reflective Measurement Systems, Ireland

The lesson to ‘measure twice, cut once’ is instilled in every joiner to minimize material waste and maximize productivity. In the current environment, with material shortages and long lead times on certain supplies, it is perhaps a lesson that road authorities and the road maintenance industry now need to consider. The cost of replacing and renewing road markings is increasing, yet the need for road marking maintenance has not abated.

If anything, the introduction of ‘lane keep assist’/’lane departure warnings’ and a future involving connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) has increased pressure on improving the quality of road markings. These combined with road traffic accidents and the natural degradation of markings due to environmental conditions means it is an endless programme of road maintenance for all road authorities. With limited budgets, how do you ensure you spend that maintenance budget where it really matters? The solution lies in measurement and gathering accurate data through road marking condition surveys by industry certified equipment.

Reducing survey costs

Reflective Measurement Systems is leading the way in the measurement field. The company has produced technological innovations for day and night retroreflectivity assessments, as well as line contrast measurements for both dry and wet conditions, which is necessary for the safe operation of vehicles with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).

The RetroTek-D mobile frontmounted retroreflectometer plays a key role in increasing the productivity of road surveys. It simultaneously records full-lane measurements on road markings to the left and right of the survey vehicle, as well as road studs (RPMs) and critical central road markings (such as arrows, stop lines and chevrons) in one survey pass. This system performs continuous measurements on the whole of the road marking, not just a small section or at regular intervals.

All of this is achieved with the same level of accuracy and repeatability as handheld retroreflectometers, but without the need for lane closures and traffic management. On a section of threelane motorway, both sides/directions of the road can be surveyed in four survey runs, (two in each direction), compared to the eight runs a single side-mounted retroreflectometer

Above:

RetroTek-D mobile retroreflectometer on survey vehicle

would need. This cuts survey costs by 50%, taking into account operator time and fuel savings. There will be further savings in maintenance of the survey vehicle. The business case to use road marking condition survey data to prioritize road marking maintenance could not be stronger.

Validating road markings

When budgets for maintenance are tight, road authorities need to be confident that the maintenance work is carried out to full contract specification. Globally there are different approaches to this, with some authorities conducting their own road surveys post maintenance. Others engage independent survey contractors to perform the validation, and some pass the responsibility back to lining/striping contractors to provide the survey data. Irrespective of the approach, with the current bottlenecks in material supplies and with the discipline of validating maintenance works likely to increase, the pressure will be on independent survey operators to collect more survey data more efficiently.

At Reflective Measurement Systems, the process of transferring survey data and processing this data has been greatly simplified by using QuickView-Pro Reporting visualization software with enhanced interactive map-linked video. With results available instantly, this software accelerates the process of pinpointing road marking failures with GPS-tagged locations, visual mapping and video footage recorded at the same angles as retroreflectivity measurements (30m geometry). No other retroreflectivity measurement system provides this level of capability.

Simplifying system installation

Making surveys safer

Above: Road Eliminating the need for lane markings detected closures, by having the capability to measure central road markings, is an by RetroTek-D in one survey pass important step toward minimizing risk to road survey workers and other Below: QuickView-Pro survey visualisation road users. These central markings screen would normally be measured using handheld systems. This is expensive and introduces the need for traffic controls and lane closures.

As a front-mounted unit, the RetroTek-D retroreflectometer does not require any side protrusions or strapping systems on the side of the survey vehicle. This is good news for survey operators and other road users, and it also means 50% that survey operators do not The reduction in have to regularly interrupt the survey to check survey costs with the the sensor lenses are clear and RetroTek-D mobile undamaged. Dirt and debris retroreflectometer from the survey vehicle wheels thrown onto side-mounted retroreflectometer lenses can be problematic in these situations. In addition, while undertaking the survey, Reflective Measurement Systems’ advanced algorithms automatically identify line types (single/double, skip/continuous) and colour during the mobile survey. This ensures the operator has minimal interaction with the control tablet and can focus on driving. It also removes the necessity to change settings every time the road markings change from single to double, or dashed to continuous, or from yellow to white. The engineering team at Reflective Measurement Systems have used the pandemic to focus on simplifying the whole process of installation, calibration and operator training and certification. They have identified ways to make the unpacking process easier and have provided equipment to enable the unit to be safely raised and secured to the survey vehicle by one person. The RetroTek-D system can also be accessed remotely using wifi or cell phone hotspot, allowing remote engineers to assist operators, improving the user experience. In addition, the team at Reflective Measurement Systems have developed an online training program supported by training documentation to train and certify survey operators on how to use the system. The support also includes a remotely monitored live first survey, which helps reinforce the training for operators and provides a reassuring validation of the test survey results. All these steps ensure that when survey contractors choose to invest in the latest technology in retroreflectivity measurement, their operators receive the training they need and also that the survey system spends more time on the road, delivering the vital data needed to prioritize road marking maintenance. ■