Leading The Way to Carbon Zero with Sustainable Methods for Line Marking

South West Highways are responsible for many road surfacing and maintenance projects for Plymouth City Council, who have ambitions in reaching carbon neutrality by 2030.

They are committed to ensuring their schemes and projects make a lasting difference by benefiting local environmental, social and economic sustainability.

They are proactive with implementing new environmental best practises, across their operations, by reducing their consumption of non-renewable resources, investing in green technology, materials and managing their carbon footprint, for the benefit of future generations.

“The future for sustainable line marking within South West Highways is to increase the use of the sustainable material MMA and implement it within more of our lining works, especially in high traffic areas.”

Darren Packham - Lining & Whiteworks Supervisor

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COLD APPLIED LINE MARKING PROJECT COMPLETED ON BUSY CITY ROUNDABOUT

A series of thermoplastic road markings, found on the heavily trafficked Marsh Mills roundabout needed refreshing.

South West Highways delivered the line marking project using MMA cold plastic paints, used alongside the ECO ES RoadLiner, an all-electric line marking machine.

“Nottingham City Council’s Parking Team are on a real push towards sustainability.

It’s quite tricky within parking services we are reliant on the cars and visitors to the city, but we’re really moving towards encouraging more sustainable vehicles, for example, the 80 charge points in Broadmarsh carpark which are powered by the 720 solar panels on its roof.

We really want sustainability at the heart of everything we do within parking, including this electric line marking machine.”

“MMA lasts for 5 years, whereas the standardized and less sustainable method of thermoplastic screed, lasts only 3 years.

The use of MMA cuts down on future installations and the renewal of line marking, therefore less resources are required throughout each scheme, resulting in an improvement in our long term environmental impact.”

Darren Packham - Lining & Whiteworks Supervisor

Matt Ralfe - Innovation and Change Manager at Nottingham City Council

The Project

Marsh Mills is the main gateway for visitors to Plymouth City Centre, as such an important intersection it is crucial that the road markings are kept maintained and visible to road users, ensuring safe traffic management.

Whilst undertaking this project practising the delivery of sustainable line markings is a core objective for South West Highways, as key figureheads in leading environmentally friendly initiatives within the highways industry.

This ambition requires innovation and consideration into how they engage with the local environment, ensuring they are proactive by integrating sustainable methods of practise when delivering surfacing projects.

Marsh Mills Roundabout Line Marking Project

The Method

Traditional line marking application methods involve the use of thermoplastic material, requiring hot works for application which will result in higher levels of carbon output.

South West Highways delivered the line marking project using MMA cold plastic paints, used alongside the ECO ES RoadLiner, an all-electric line marking machine.

There are many benefits to be found when using cold applied MMA for line marking, compared to using thermoplastics.

This includes greater durability of the finished line markings, a reduced risk of hot works related injuries and a huge reduction of carbon usage.

"There are several benefits to using MMA, which I believe to be highly beneficial for South West Highways:

Less hot works, thus eliminating burns and other risks associated with thermoplastics.

Very reflective results and greater durability, especially in high traffic areas"

Darren Packham – Lining & Whiteworks Supervisor

The Result

The use of an all-electric line marking machine, such as the ECO ES RoadLiner, results in a reduction in carbon usage of up to 60%, when compared to traditional methods of line marking using thermoplastic materials.

The all-electric ECO ES RoadLiner, used in conjunction with MMA cold applied line marking paint is a fantastic opportunity for South West Highways to stay aligned with their core objectives and lead environmentally friendly initiatives within the highways industry.

This ensures these methods of practise help to contribute towards Plymouth City Council’s environmental ambitions, for carbon neutrality by 2030.

Not only the most environmentally friendly solution, cold applied electric line marking also offers the safest and most economical alternative to traditional hot works.

Marsh Mills roundabout-ECO_ES_RoadLiner 5

“Nottingham City Council’s Parking Team are on a real push towards sustainability.

It’s quite tricky within parking services we are reliant on the cars and visitors to the city, but we’re really moving towards encouraging more sustainable vehicles, for example, the 80 charge points in Broadmarsh carpark which are powered by the 720 solar panels on its roof.

We really want sustainability at the heart of everything we do within parking, including this electric line marking machine.”

“MMA lasts for 5 years, whereas the standardized and less sustainable method of thermoplastic screed, lasts only 3 years.

The use of MMA cuts down on future installations and the renewal of line marking, therefore less resources are required throughout each scheme, resulting in an improvement in our long term environmental impact.”

“Our collaboration with Meon so far has been short, but I feel there will be many more years of collaboration to come.

Meon continue to support us throughout what we do, by supplying us with great customer support.

We continue to grow our relationship with Meon and we look forward to consulting and seeking their advice when we need it ”

Darren Packham - Lining & Whiteworks Supervisor

Matt Ralfe - Innovation and Change Manager at Nottingham City Council

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Systems Used

GRACO LINELAZER ECO ES ROADLINER

The industury’s first all electric line marking machine, capable of applying highway specification line markings which have 300% increased durability and 60% increased retro-reflectivity, compared to traditional methods whilst cutting carbon output by 90%.

The ES RoadLiner is developed from the Graco LineLazer ES 2000 and LineDriver ES, providing proven reliability.

This machine also provides increased safety for the operator, involving no hot works and with a noise level of only 82dB, which means nearby traffic or machinery can be heard.

SPECTRUM ULTRASTRIPE L224 | Sprayable MMA Hard Wearing Line Marking Paint

Spectrum UltraStripe L224 MMA line marking paint provides high-performance markings and has a fast cure time, allowing reopening areas to traffic quickly.

UltraStripe L224 has a simple application method, using standard equipment and reactive glass beads.

SPECTRUM ULTRALINE L210 | MMA Hard Wearing Line Marking Paint

Spectrum UltraLine L210 is a cold plastic line marking paint that is ideal for high wear markings on roads.

It has a very simple application method that uses little equipment, making it possible to apply markings for many situations such as informative markings.