The highly reflective pavement marking (HRPM) story — Lines brighter, longer lasting and saferHighway markings on the Sea to Sky highway will be significantly improved by the use of new high-tech highly reflective pavement markings (HRPM). Unlike paint this thermoplastic marking system resists fading and is significantly more reflective on dark rainy nights. First a grove is cut in the pavement to ensure a good bond between the pavement and the thermoplastic pavement line. The cutting wheel is computer controlled and the result is constantly quality checked.
A second specialized machine is used to apply the thermoplastic line. First the material is heated to 400° F then, as the thermoplastic material is applied to the pavement, small reflective glass beads are added to the mix. The final step is an imprinting wheel that puts ripple potato chip like ridges in the line marking. The troughs of the ridges aid in shedding water and the ridge walls help reflect more light back to the driver.
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