Thursday, May 26, 2016

Use High Friction Surfacing To Make Your Pavements Skid Resistant

By Margaret Murphy


Pavements can be given a surface treatment compiled of materials that are polish resistant, tough and attrition resistant aggregates that are attached to the surface through resin. This kind of surface treatment can be either cold or hot applied and has been enforced and used across world. Anti-skid surfaces may be accomplished by high friction surfacing. Essentially, it is applied so as to reduce the braking distance and add skid resistance.

The ability to reduce braking distance has the potential to lower accidents. This anti-skid treatment can be put at various points on the road such as road junctions, pedestrian crossings, and roundabouts, near traffic lights and on road stretches with higher accident rates. Development in various resins used to bind the aggregate to the surface has improved durability and performance. By adding this kind of treatment on the road services saves lives as well as money.

Not only does the material increase skid resistance, on road surfaces, it can as well be used for other purposes such as traffic calming, on bike paths, lane delineation as well as for decoration purposes. Surfacing can either be hot or cold applied. When hot applied it adheres to the pavement by adhesion because of heat application and while it is cold applied, it adheres to the surfaces through chemical bond.

Due to its anti-skid properties, this treatment can be done on road surfaces at different points. Common areas where it is normally used are such as horizontal curves and ramps, steep grades, bus stop points, intersection approaches, bridge decks and surfaces where icing is common. Such area often require higher friction making the anti-skidding treatment more ideal hence reducing accident rates. This is because this material is made such that it can achieve high tolerance to abrasion from vehicle tires. The material is also resilient to polishing or being smoothened.

Before applying the coating of these abrasive resistant materials, different precautions should be observed in order to attain quality adhesion. First, pavements need to be in perfect condition without scaling and cracking. Open graded surfaces can no more act as open rated after installation. Double layer application might be required in order to attain enough thickness for binding.

Another requirement is that pavement surfaces should be dry and clean for the application. Those surfaces made of concrete need to be shot-blast before application to achieve the best adhesion. Besides, the surfaces must be free of impurities such as oils, grease, and the likes.

When the aggregates have been installed, the extra material should be removed from the new surfaces before opening up the pavement to be used again. This can be done effectively by using the power bloom and compressed by air. Extra sweeping can be done during the next few days to remove the loosen stones.

Installing the anti-skidding material offers several benefits other than skid resistance. It is not expensive compared to removing and replacing existing pavement. At the same time, it can be done on virtually any kind of pavement.




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