Road Materials
Road surface(British English) or pavement (American English) is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past cobblestones and granite setts were extensively used, but these surfaces have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete. Such surfaces are frequently marked to guide traffic. Today, permeable paving methods are beginning to be used for low-impact roadways and walkways. (Wikipedia, Road Materials, 2/25/2011)
Recent US Patents
10/26/2010
7,820,083
Wet reflective pavement marking and method
Bjorklund of Fortson-Peek Company, Georgia has developed a reflective marking strip for highways consisting of a thermoplastic strip containing glass reflecting beads with pellets of a material containing reflective microbeads. The strips are laid down by an automated deposition machine with the three components. The reflective pellets are formed by extruding and palletizing a mixture of reflective microspheres and, then, soaking the pellets in a solvent to remove surface plastic and expose the reflective particles. (RDC 2/15/2011)