Road Line Marking

There are different types of road marking paint and lines. These lines all signify varying motions to drivers who are on the road. Special chemicals mixed into the paint also give it an iridescent quality that's more easily visible on the road. That's why it's so important to work with the right road line marking contractors for your project.

Road line marking paint types include:

• Broken white line — These lines are drawn on a one-way or two-way road, telling drivers they can overtake each other.
• Solid white line — These lines tell you to stay in your lane and that you cannot overtake other vehicles.
• Single, solid yellow line — The presence of solid yellow lines should tell you that you can overtake other drivers, but you can't cross the yellow line.
• Double solid yellow lines — Once again, passing or overtaking other drivers is restricted.
• Broken yellow line — Yellow means' caution,' so a broken yellow line, like a white, yellow line, indicates that you can overtake others, but you need to proceed with caution.
• Solid yellow line with broken yellow line — This is an interesting indication. If you're driving on the side with the solid yellow line, you can't overtake the driver ahead of you. However, if you're on the opposite side of the road, you'll meet the broken yellow line, which means you can overtake the driver. Usually, the broken yellow line turns back into a double yellow line, so you have a limited window of opportunity to overtake another driver.

Road line marking equipment can make roads safer with increased visibility and help drivers follow the rules and drive more consciously. It's crucial that road line marking contractors work with the right road line marking paint and equipment to keep drivers safe.

Line marking, also known as pavement marking, is dependent on the surface that road line marking contractors are working with. Enhanced materials added to the paint further the paint markings' longevity, giving them additional reflectivity, and they can even be anti-skid for cars that accidentally spin out of control.

The materials added in road link marking paint include:

• Thermoplastic road line marking — This type of road line marking paint is applied by road line marking contractors by spraying techniques after heating it to 180 degrees Celsius. Once it cools, it's hard-wearing and reflective, which is why it's often used in high-traffic areas. To enhance surface friction, contractors may also add glass beads and filler to the road line marking equipment.
• Water-based road line marking paint — Water-based paint is anti-slip and is used for airfield runways and race tracks. It also comes in a wide range of colours and is more environmentally friendly than other types of options.
• MMA cold plastic road line marking paint — Unlike thermoplastic road marking, MMA is a cold, solvent-free plastic. It's extremely durable and holds colour without fading. Unlike thermoplastic, MMA is cold-applied and dries quickly, so road line marking contractors can apply it quickly.

Roads are marked using accurate road line marking equipment and experienced marking contractors who know how to operate the machinery. There are two types of road line marking machine hires you can opt for:

• Air spray — A method of road line marking that uses compressed air to spray-paint the surface of the road.
• High-pressure airless spraying — A method that needs road line marking machines that use a high-pressure airless pump to apply the paint. It's not as smooth as air-brush spray, but no air flow scatters paint and potentially makes it look sloppy.

Generally, the process of road line marking is a multi-day event. Traffic needs to be 'staged' or guided while the road is in the process of being marked by paint. To do this, road line marking contractors will use traffic cones, removable tape, and even the supervision of local law enforcement to make sure everyone is driving safely and following the rules.

Once the major 'path' is set by the cones and lined tape, road line marking contractors will use auxiliary road line marking equipment to prep the paint. This includes machinery like paint pre-heaters, hand-push pre-markers, and road-marking removers.

All three play an important role in the process of road line marking. Pre-heaters heat up the paint to the right viscosity, while hand-push pre-markers draw a field sketch before the permanent paint is applied, so there are no faulty markings. This is important because the most significant road line markings maintain the right size, spacing, and uniformity of markings.

Calculating paint marking on a road is an easy and simple process that road line marking contractors should be familiar with.

Here's how it works:

• Measure the total marking area with length and width.
• Decide on the road line thickness of the paint. For thermoplastic, that would be 1.8 mm.
• If the thickness of the paint is 1.6 mm, each square metre needs 3.5 to 4 kilos of thermoplastic paint.
• If the thickness of the paint is 1.8 m, each square metre needs 4 to 4.5 kilos of thermoplastic paint.
• Finally, if the paint is 2 mm thick, each square metre would need 4.5 to 5 kilos of paint.