What is high-visibility pavement marking?

High-visibility pavement markings—generally referring to white pavement markings constructed using various pavement marking materials that exhibit a retroreflective coefficient greater than 500 mcd, maintain continuous reflectivity, and possess a certain degree of nighttime reflectivity in rainy conditions—are known as high-visibility pavement markings.

High-visibility road markings—generally referring to white road markings constructed using various road marking materials that exhibit a retroreflective coefficient greater than 500 mcd, maintain continuous reflectivity, and possess a certain degree of nighttime reflectivity in rainy conditions—are known as high-visibility road markings. These include hot-melt high-visibility road markings, two-component high-visibility road markings, and water-based high-visibility road markings.

High-visibility road markings generally have no direct relationship with the type of road marking paint used; the key factor is the use of high-intensity retroreflective glass beads. Typically, these high-intensity retroreflective glass beads are manufactured using a melt-glass process and their surfaces are treated with special coating materials that resemble the surface of the moon (also known as "moon beads"). Thanks to their unique surface characteristics, these beads provide reflective effects even in rainy conditions. Their roundness rate is nearly 100%, and their retroreflective value exceeds 900 mcd. The U.S. glass bead standards TYPA3, TYPA4, and TYPA5 specifically refer to this type of glass bead.

High-brightness glass beads (moon glass beads) are produced using a conventional glass-melting process: Glass is melted into a molten glass liquid, which is then drawn into glass rods. These rods are subsequently cut into glass bead granules according to the desired bead size. Finally, the cut glass granules are sintered at high temperatures to form finished glass beads. This process ensures stable particle size and consistent quality metrics. However, due to the relatively high production costs, the current market price at the end user level generally stands at USD 1,800 per ton or higher.

High-visibility road markings are typically applied using the brushing method. The marking paints include thermoplastic, water-based, and two-component types. These marking paints contain 30% high-visibility glass beads mixed throughout. During application, an additional 500 grams of high-visibility glass beads are sprinkled onto the surface to form the road markings. High-visibility road markings feature excellent retroreflective performance, as well as enhanced reflectivity in rainy conditions at night, and maintain consistent reflectivity over time, making them suitable for use on highways of all classes.