Road marking technologies for safer, sustainable roads

This discussion focuses on how innovations in road marking coatings, reflective materials, and digital tools are enhancing safety, durability, and sustainability across India's road networks.

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What advancements in road marking coatings are enhancing safety and longevity?

India's road infrastructure is evolving rapidly, and with our diverse weather conditions and heavy traffic loads, the latest advancements in road marking technologies are crucial for both safety and durability. We are witnessing a significant shift towards structured and profiled markings, especially in the form of raised ribbed and dot patterns. These provide a tactile and audible warning for drivers, and more importantly, reflect much more light at night and during rain.

The structuring creates drainage channels, allowing water to flow quickly off, and the peaks remain visible even under headlights in heavy rain.

We are deploying cold-applied plastic systems with high refractive index glass beads, ensuring these markings last longer and perform well under India's heavy traffic and diverse climate, while requiring less maintenance.

By choosing globally proven solutions, we're creating more resilient infrastructure with reduced life-cycle costs, all while positioning India for a connected mobility future.

How do these technological improvements translate into reduced re-application costs and improved road network efficiency?

Longer-lasting performance, fewer reapplications: Structured cold-applied plastic markings and premium glass beads are engineered for durability, maintaining retro-reflectivity and resilience under heavy traffic and harsh Indian weather for significantly longer than conventional paints.

This means road agencies need to reapply markings far less frequently, drastically reducing both material and workforce costs.

Data-driven maintenance planning: While the markings themselves aren't digital, their performance is easily tracked and audited using digital asset management tools-authorities can optimise budgets and maintenance schedules based on real-world durability data.