Meon’s LineLazer ECO ES RoadLiner is the world's first all-electric line marking machine capable of applying highway grade line markings, but what does that mean? How is highway grade line marking different to any other line marking? And what makes the ES RoadLiner the first all-electric machine to deliver these markings?
What are the requirements for highway grade markings?
We will start by breaking down what a highway grade line marking is and why it is different from any other line markings. BS EN 1436 sets out the British Standards for the performance of line markings on all roads. This Specification sets out the minimum performance requirements for the below areas:
Day time visibility
The first and most obvious requirement is for markings to meet a certain level of visibility during daylight hours. The standard set for this is a minimum of 130mcd. A line marking without any glass beads will not be able to meet this level of visibility as it requires the reflectivity of glass beads to enhance the visibility of the line.
Night-Time Visibility
The second requirement is for the markings to be visible at night-time, which is called retro-reflectivity. The Standards set here are different in dry and wet conditions and dependent upon whether the area of the road is lit with streetlights or is unlit. The standard for an unlit area in the dry is a minimum of 150mcd, and in the wet, it is 100mcd. To meet these requirements, glass beads need to be applied onto the markings to enhance the visibility, especially in the wet.
Skid resistance
The third requirement is skid resistance which has a standard requirement of a minimum of 45SRV, again glass beads help to increase the slip resistance of any markings.
Durability
Whilst not a requirement within the British Standards, durability needs to be considered as a durable product is required to stand up to the elevated levels of traffic and will not require refreshing on a regular basis. Single pack paints are not suitable, so currently either thermoplastic or MMA cold plastic is used on roads as they are the most durable products.
In summary, the ES RoadLiner needs to and can deliver a line marking with glass beads on top to achieve the above requirements. When considering what product to apply, Meon decided to focus on using MMA Cold Plastic as it is a sustainable, cold applied product with the best performance.
How can MMA be applied?
MMA can be screed or spray applied. With the ES RoadLiner we are looking at spray applied for longitudinal markings. MMA is a higher build product than standard paints and therefore requires a stronger pump to spray the material. It also needs a catalyst in order to cure the applied paint. This can be either in a liquid form or coated onto glass beads which are then dropped onto the line. Using a liquid catalyst requires complicated machinery so the ES RoadLiner uses catalyst coated beads.
There are several ways glass beads can be applied onto a line. They can be applied using a hand dispenser, a gravity fed tank or a pressurised system. The first two methods are not suitable when applying MMA as they have an inconsistent application and would not guarantee consistent curing or performance. The obvious choice was to focus on a pressurised system.
In summary, we needed a machine capable of spraying higher build MMA, fitted with a Pressurised Bead System, to deliver the highest possible quality highway grade line.
Developing a sustainable machine...
We wanted to use an electric machine to provide a carbon-friendly solution. Neither the current LineLazer ES 1000 or ES 2000 have the capacity to apply beads suitably for MMA as they do not have a pressurised bead system. Furthermore, the LineLazer ES 1000 does not have the capacity to spray MMA at the high-capacity requirements.
We chose to use the LineLazer ES 2000 and custom fit it with a Pressurised Bead System so it can deliver line markings with the accurate dosage of beads to highway specification. This included having to fit a compressor on the machine to power the PBS system.
With the LineLazer ECO ES RoadLiner, the final machine is capable of spraying cold plastic MMA line markings with glass beads. Furthermore, the machine has been extensively tested and the markings exceed the highways specifications as set out by British Standards.
If you want to learn more about our ES RoadLiner, arrange a demonstration, or are looking to scale up your line marketing fleet with the world’s first all-electric highway grade line marking machine, then get in touch today on 02392 200 606 or emailing mail@meonuk.com.
