• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Logo

Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse

Library of Resources to Improve Roadway Work Zone Safety for All Roadway Users

  • About
  • Join Listserv
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Work Zone Data
    • At a Glance
    • National & State Traffic Data
    • Work Zone Traffic Crash Trends and Statistics
    • Worker Fatalities and Injuries at Road Construction Sites
  • Topics of Interest
    • Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
    • Smart Work Zones
    • Transportation Management Plans
    • Accommodating Pedestrians
    • Worker Safety and Welfare
    • Project Coordination in Work Zones
  • Training
    • Flagger
    • Online Courses
    • Toolboxes
    • FHWA Safety Grant Products
    • Certification and
      Accreditation
  • Work Zone Devices
  • Laws, Standards & Policies
    • COVID-19 Guidance
  • Public Awareness
  • Events
  • About
  • Listserv
  • Contact
  • Search
Publication

A Determination of the Appropriateness of Virginia’s Retroreflective Sign Sheeting Specification for Flourescent Orange Construction and Maintenance Signs

Author/Presenter: Brich, Stephen C.
Abstract:

To ensure the safe and efficient movement of traffic through a highway network during nighttime conditions, traffic signs are either illuminated or made retroreflective. Since illuminating all highway signs is not practical or energy efficient, the majority of traffic signs are retroreflective. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) requires that retroreflective sheeting used on construction and maintenance activity signs be a fluorescent prismatic lens type capable of being retroreflective at entrance angles as great as 50 degrees with observation angles of 0.2 and 0.5 degree. Because the validity of the 50-degree entrance angle requirement was questioned, this research was conducted to determine if VDOT’s specification is appropriate. Since this project was concerned with fluorescent orange construction and maintenance signs, 232 work zones in Virginia for the 1999 construction season were identified and inventoried. From these sites, 1,865 signs were investigated. The information collected included position, offset, height, shape and dimensions, whether tilted forward or back, rotation and twist, and the number of approach lanes facing the sign. This information was compiled in a spreadsheet, and a vector-based model was developed to determine the entrance, observation, rotation, and orientation angles for each sign. The results indicated that VDOT’s 50-degree entrance angle requirement is not appropriate for fluorescent orange construction and maintenance signs. However, the results also indicated that more emphasis should be placed on observation angle requirements than on entrance angle requirements. Every motorist on the approach to a sign will have an observation angle of 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and possibly 2.0 degrees depending on the type of vehicle being driven. The study recommends that VDOT specify a 40-degree entrance angle and a 1.0-degree observation angle for prismatic fluorescent orange work zone signs. In addition, the study recommends that the specification include requirements for orientation and rotation angles.

Publisher: Virginia Transportation Research Council
Publication Date: October 2002
Full Text URL: Link to URL
Publication Types: Books, Reports, Papers, and Research Articles
Topics: Retroreflectivity; Sign Sheeting; Traffic Control Devices; Traffic Signs

Copyright © 2023 American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse is a project of the ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation. It is operated in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration and Texas A&M Transportation Institute. | Copyright Statement · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer
American Road and Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation, American Road and Transportation Builders Association U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Texas A&M Transportation Institute