What is road marking paint?

Here's what you need to know before you buy road marking paint

Road marking paint is something that motorists are likely to see every day. It's on roads across Australia and around the world, and is an essential item for the demarcation of traffic lanes. It's also vital for helping cyclists, pedestrians and other road users to know when and where they can stop and go.

Without it, driving would be a much more hazardous experience for all road users. Yet most motorists and pedestrians probably never give it a second thought. So what exactly is road marking paint, and how is it manufactured and used? This article will help you find out more.

The purpose of road paint

First of all, it's important to understand what the purpose of your road marking paint is prior to buying it. As a traffic management professional, this will help you narrow down the types on offer and ensure that you get one that meets your requirements.

One of the main purposes of road paint is to create effective signage on public roads and highways.

Lines down the middle of roads are a common sight, but road marking paint can also be used to indicate the boundaries of a pedestrian crossing or to delineate one sort of road junction from another.

However, road paint can also be used in private contexts. It may be used on a private road to indicate that no access is permitted, for example. It could also be used in an industrial context, with sites such as depots, shipping facilities and more all requiring their concrete and cement bases to be split up in particular ways for effective navigation and organisation.

And it can be used in non-road contexts, too. Road marking paint is often seen on airport runways to direct pilots in the correct direction, for example.

Common types of road paint

It's also worth looking at the various types of road marking paint that exist on the market. Each variety can be used in different contexts to achieve different ends, and it's worth thinking carefully about the right one for your needs.

The majority of road markings you see painted on will have been made using what is known as thermoplastic paint. It's a very durable variety of paint, which makes it useful for two reasons.

First off, it's unlikely to rub off even if it's driven over by hundreds or thousands of vehicles per day. Secondly, it means that it will be more immune to damage caused by adverse weather conditions. Some specific road contexts are better than others for this type of paint.

Australia is home to thousands of kilometres of motorway, and the durability of thermoplastic paint is ideal in these locations because of the high volume of vehicles and the speed with which vehicles are likely to pass. You might also have heard of this type of paint described "hot melt marking", and that's because it is added to roads at an extremely high temperature.

Less common varieties of road marking paint

But there are some other types of road marking paint out there too. Some road marking paint is made from water, which has its advantages.

This sort of paint is often found marking out the tarmac in environments where colour coordination is required. Environments where an extra-durable paint solution is needed might call for methyl methacrylate. It's also commonly found in environments where the paint needs to be applied very quickly as its drying properties are fast-acting.

If a set of temporary roadworks has to be installed quickly, for example, this sort of paint could come in handy. Alternatively, spot marker paint is great for temporary use, during roadworks, survey use, building sites, excavation set out, pipeline construction, pipe and cable locating, landscaping, sporting areas and more.

It offers good coverage making it a great economical option for short term line marking and spot marking.

Add-ons and extras

Finally, it's worth noting that there are lots of potential extras that you can add to your road paint in order to increase its effectiveness.

Small, smooth balls of glass are sometimes mixed in with thermoplastic paint, for example, in order to pick up headlights from cars and diffuse the light over the road to increase visibility in badly lit areas.

In Australia, these drop on glass beads are particularly useful on roads in outback areas where electric lighting is unlikely to exist for large stretches of the highway.

Find out more or buy road marking paint online

Are you a road management professional, or do you operate an environment in which there is regular high traffic? If so, our range of road marking paint and other essential traffic items – such as arrow boards, hazard signs and more – are ideal.

Just get in touch today to discover more about the range we have on offer.