Line Marking Removal from Pavements

Pavement markings are crucial for safe driving as they provide much needed information, instructions and guidance to both drivers and pedestrians. However, you may be thinking, what happens when these lines on highways, and roadways need to be changed, updated or removed?

These safety devices are painted using a combination of pavement paint, thermoplastics, epoxy and tapes which means it can sometimes be an ordeal to remove and change sometimes resulting in road or lane closures as the process is completed.

There are, in fact, several ways in which the pavement markings can removed. Ranging from sand-blasting to grinding, the processes used to remove the line markings depends on what the lines were painted or placed with in the first place.

Here are a few of the ways these line markings are removed:

Grinding

While grinding is one of the most used methods of removing line markings, it is not necessarily one of the best. In order to properly remove the markings, the grinding process needs to be severe enough to leave some scarring on the road surface, and if these scars are not properly taken care of after the fact freezing temperatures can cause snow, or ice build up in these grooves leading to hazardous situations.

Waterblasting

Done using a needle-sharp jet of water, the waterblasting process works by blasting water into the pores of the asphalt which actively lifts the paint off of the surface, washing it away with great effectiveness. While this process can lead to damaging the asphalt, it does not end with the scarring of the pavement.

This process is also extremely environmentally friendly as the jet stream of water reduces the paint into fine particles. Also, unlike the grinding method, waterblasting will remove lines done with temporary tape.

Find out more at https://www.tstar-linemarking.co.uk/