Retroreflective Raised Pavement Marker (RRPM) is an element of delineation system that plays a very important role by enhancing visibility on highways. RRPMs guide drivers with directional and lane information for a saferdriving experience. Major issues related to low performance and poor durability of RRPMs have been reported in many states, and study on the field behavior of RRPMs is needed to understand and predict the performance in the field. This paper focuses on the RRPM field performance and the external factors affecting the performance. The data are collected for a period of two years from field test decks in the state of Texas as a part of project carried out by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). Regression analysis is carried out to assess the effects of external factors on the field performance of the markers. Two model sets are developed with transient retroreflectivity and physical rating as dependent variables and traffic volume, elapsed time, pavement surface type and color of the marker as independent variables. The developed models can be used by transportation agencies for predicting RRPM service life and life-cycle costs which are key to performance-based asset management practices.
Abstract