Higher Retroreflection Ensures Greater Safety in Road Traffic
Premium reflective glass beads are particularly durable and increase road safety thanks to their exceptional retroreflection.
Lane markings with modern premium glass beads are markedly more visible, making them a key roadway safety factor. Embedded in the marking material, these glass beads enable retroreflection, thus providing optimal orientation. SWARCO SOLIDPLUS & SWARCO DURALUX by SWARCO Road Marking Systems stands out by featuring exceptional retroreflection values and a long service life. Furthermore, this new generation of premium glass beads is substantially more durable than standard reflective glass beads, which is a significant advantage for road operators.
Retroreflection of road markings plays a key role in ensuring orientation on the road. SWARCO SOLIDPLUS & SWARCO DURALUX premium glass beads increase road safety thanks to their excellent retroreflection values.
23 February 2021 – “Nowadays, road markings are an integral part of making road infrastructure safe. The requirements of automated driver assistance and the desire for maximum safety raise the bar even further,” Sales & Application Engineer Karl Heinz Fasching explains. “In many places, when choosing road markings, going for systems in the low-price segment is still standard practice. But this only provides short-term financial benefits as these markings must be renewed much more often, and by comparison, they lose their retroreflection quite fast,” Karl Heinz Fasching continues. By contrast, modern premium-class marking systems offer not only markedly better retroreflection values, but also a significantly longer service life. The combination of high-grade cold plastics and the highly reflective SWARCO SOLIDPLUS & SWARCO DURALUX glass beads can even double durability. Thus, road operators can be certain that the markings still achieve the required standard values even at the end of the intended service life. This application security saves time by reducing remarking costs significantly. The higher retroreflection also makes driving considerably safer for road users. “This means we are able to reconcile the highest demands for safety with cost-effectiveness considerations perfectly,” Karl Heinz Fasching says.
Impressive Retroreflection
Reflective glass beads in road markings reflect the beam from the headlight back to the driver. Road users rely on this quality for their safety, especially in challenging weather conditions. This retroreflection enhances road safety and creates a more comfortable driving experience for road users while improving machine readability, and thus, detectability by driver assistance systems, among others. To achieve this, SWARCO Road Marking Systems uses the unique SWARCO SOLIDPLUS & SWARCO DURALUX glass formulation. SWARCO SOLIDPLUS & SWARCO DURALUX premium glass beads are the result of many years of research and development and achieve particularly high retroreflection values. Initial measurements of conventional standard glass beads used on motorways yield maximum values of about 350 mcd/m²*lx (RL), whereas SWARCO SOLIDPLUS & SWARCO DURALUX beads in motorway markings initially reach up to 952 mcd/m²*lx. Two years later, after more than 25 million vehicles had driven over the markings, SWARCO SOLIDPLUS & SWARCO DURALUX still showed a retroreflection value of 400 mcd/m²*lx, which was markedly higher than that of the standard materials (120 mcd/m²*lx). “Achieving this quality in the premium segment creates a win-win situation for road users, road operators and the environment. These premium reflective glass beads provide substantially longer durability and a long service life. In addition, high-grade markings with SWARCO SOLIDPLUS & SWARCO DURALUX enhance safety and orientation. For road users, this can be a life saver!” Karl Heinz Fasching explains.Quality products and services from SWARCO Road Marking Systems guide traffic safely from A to B by day and, above all, by night. On all types of roads. Whatever the weather. From a single source. Over 5,000 customers in more than 80 countries place their trust in them.
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