Development of Field Performance Evaluation Tools and Program for Pavement Marking Materials: Technical Report (0-5548-1)

Historically the prequalification or selection of pavement marking materials (PMMs) is mainly based on product specifications and lab testing, which do not correlate well with the field performance of the products. On the other hand, there is no consensus on recommended procedure to design test deck and conduct field performance test. The objective of this project is to investigate field evaluation plans and procedures and develop field performance-based evaluation procedures for PMMs. Field decks are designed incorporating regular long lines, long line in the travel lane, and transverse lines for accelerated testing, while also considering area climate, roadway surface type, and traffic condition. Carefully selected PMM products are installed and monitored for their field performance over time. The relationships between transverse and longitudinal test decks are evaluated with correlation with the corresponding five or seven longitudinal long lines in the travel lane when retroreflectivity values of all products on a test deck are averaged. For individual products, the correlations between transverse line locations and corresponding long lines in the travel lane exist, albeit at a lower level. A tracking database is developed and can record and interactively query all relevant data, track individual jobs and products, and graphically display performance changes over time.