Modelling the performance of pavement marking in cold weather conditions

Abstract

Inadequate and poorly maintained pavement markings are considered to be one of the largest contributing factors to fatal motor vehicle crashes. As a result, it is essential to apply the appropriate pavement marking material for all weather conditions in order to increase public safety and reduce motor vehicle crashes. Building a strategic plan to renew and re-stripe pavement marking is receiving increasing interest from companies/authorities that manage the pavement marking in order to reach the most cost-efficient management plan of the available pavement marking materials. The objective of this paper is to develop pavement marking performance models that predict the condition of different marking materials under various service conditions including weather, traffic and snow removal plans. The developed models are validated and the results show that the average percent validity varies from 87% to 99%. Marking performance is assessed using a condition rating scale, which numerically ranges from 1 to 5 and linguistically from excellent to critical, respectively. Deterioration curves are developed that assess the condition of the pavement marking based on the developed models. They are expected to benefit academics and practitioners (municipal engineers, consultants, and contractors) to prioritise inspection, stripping, and re-stripping planning for various pavement markings.