Testing Highway Marking Paints - Essay Example

TESTING HIGHWAY MARKING PAINTS I carried out a couple of tests to determine the best paint that the Highway Department could use to ensure that the color of the highway roads last longer and are in the best quality. The tests that I carried out included the spraying test where I analyzed how seven different types of paint acted upon spraying. I used the Paint Manufactures Association Specification to determine the paint that will dry fastest. The paints were supposed to dry in is twenty minutes (Migletz, 2002).

Another criterion that I used in the spraying technique was to identify which paint flows smoothly and did not form globules or drip from the spraying nozzle. Drying time is another method that I used to establish the best paint for the highway. I decided that the minimum levels that I will give for the paints to dry is seven for the first three months and six for the next three months. I analyzed the visibility of the paint at night and during the day. For the analysis of the paint at night, I used the high beams of the lights of a car.

I chose four drivers to help me out in the visibility test. The date that I started the analysis was 6 June 2011. The paints that did not achieve the minimum level of visibility for the first three months included Roadmark 8 paint from the company called Wishart Incorporated, which is found in New York, and 81-234, which is paint from Provincial Paint Company. On 27 August 2011, I did another visibility test on the same paints and the paint that did not pass the analysis was CL, which was the paint used by the Highway Department for a long time.

Another paint that did not attain the minimum level required was 707, under the company name Novell Paint Ltd. Therefore, the paints that passed the visibility test for both the yellow and white colors were TL under the company name Centrex Inc. This was the new paint improved from the CL used by the Highway Department. Another paint that passes both the three months and six months test was MICA, under the company name Multiple Industries Corporation and HILITE under the company name Hi-Liner Products.

I used twenty minutes as the maximum amount of time suitable for the paint to dry. I decided on this time because it is the specification considered by ASTM D-711. I did not have access to the paint stripe applicator, so I put an applicator on a small tractor and applied the paint on the road. The only paint that passed the test was 707, under the company name Novell Paint Ltd. In the evaluation to determine the good spraying characteristics of the paints, many paints had good characteristics.

The only paint that did not pass the test was ROADMARK 8. I believe that the best paints that the Highway Department should consider for white paint is HILITE. This is because it has a high visibility level which lasts the longest period. The best yellow paint is TL because of its high durability and visibility. The two paints also have high spraying characteristics. However, HILITE has a shorter drying period that TL. I therefore believe that the best paint in all the paints that were under analysis was the white color paint of HILITE under the company name Hi-Liner Products.

The Highway Department should thus consider the HILITE white paint as it will last longer in the roads, be visible both at night and during the day and it will dry very fast to ensure the shortest time is taken to renovate the highway. References Migletz, James. (2002). Long-term pavement marking practices. Washington DC: Transportation Research Board.