Saturday, May 3, 2008

Zebra Stripes Refreshed


As I drove to work Friday morning, I found these city workers involved in a process I had never seen before. Crosswalks are not painted, but melted into place section by section. One man placed the fresh section over the worn out spot, while the other guy wielded a hot-air blower to melt the white material onto the street. I took so many pictures of them, they were starting to giggle.

9 comments:

EG CameraGirl said...

That's fascinating. I have NO idea how the crosswalks are done here in Ontario, but now I'm curious.

Anonymous said...

Yep. That's how they do it here too. I don't know what the stuff is but it ends up being about a quarter inch thick when stuck in place. I was also aware that it wears off in time but didn't think much about that and thought it was paint. Like you I was surprised to see how they replaced it.

magiceye said...

hey thats interesting...never seen this being done though! thanks for sharing..

Jim Klenke said...

I would have guessed they were painted. I dont think I have ever seen them doing it.

Steve Buser said...

My guess is it lasts longer than paint.

Kym said...

My husband ( works for CALTRANS) says it is called Thermaplastic. It lasts longer, shows up better, and they embed glass beads in the surface of it so it shows up better at night and in the rain.

USelaine said...

Thanks for that Kym. I had some British viewers wondering about the angled stripes, but I figured that had to do with visibility too. So many things we take for granted, and transportation workers put their lives on the line to get it done.

Z said...

Oh, the joys of plastic! I guess it's a mixed bag, like most things.

The stripes, etc around here in CH look like paint, but I'll have to look closer.

Josy said...

Huh. I'd always wondered why the paint seemed to be raised!