My Airport Operations

I am not sold on thermo yet, when you consider the initial cost and when the time comes for removal, I am not sure it is worth it...

The FAA would like for these signs to work also; they understand our problem is national.  Flint has advised me they are looking into the matter and hopefully will get back to me. As to how many beads etc, you got me - they come from the manufactor and are install with heat (that's the extent of my knowledge).  On a side note: Themoplastic that is put down on asphalt which has cracks that have been filled and seal have shown problems.  The crack repair fill is regenerated into a liquid from the heat used to apply the Themoplastic.  Apperantly, this will show through the red markings of the SPHPS and follows he contours of the original crack.  Don't have any details, just passing a comment I heard.

Thanks again and take care. 

I understand there have been reported problems about these signs with others airports as well.  I have talked to some of the certified applicators about this and hope a resolution is in the works with Flint.  The design concept is to maintain retro (even in the wheel path), as beads are intermixed throughout the material.  How many were installed and how bad do they look at night????  Costly, I'm sure - 

What are you going to do?

Thanks for the information, I really apppreciate the update.

We had problems with the reflectivity of the beads in the runway numbers marking (not unifomed) after one year of wear.  We also have the same problem with machine painted markings, but a lot cheaper if they wear the same.

Another feature the material has is UV inhibitors which enables better color retention and has been used in the highway industry for years so it's not new technology.  My concern was the brittleness should it chip off (FOD) and the removal process.  The company formulated it for aviation to break off in small pieces and waterblasting or grinding is recommended for removal.  I heard they are mandatory at all airports with more than one one runway. Many airports now have these including Atlanta but the Port Authority of NY/NJ installed them over three years ago in high traffic areas and are pleased with the performance, so far.

A few years back after we had to install enchanced taxiway marking I heard that the FAA (Southwest Region) was going to make it mandatory for the surface painted signs. I have a hard time keeping the color in my existing markings, so this thermoplastic is something that I will definitley look into when we have to install these new markings.

I heard we might be getting them for some of our high traffic areas. they sound like they're efficient!