DSIR 12/180b

Experimental edge markings for roads with flush verges

Date range	1959
Location	National Archives (see all files stored here)
Catalogue	See entry
File base	Series DSIR, subseries DSIR 12

Context

Details of an experiment carried out to trial edge markings for motorways, in the days when rumble strips (applied as thermoplastic paint) were but a madman's dream. The RRL was trying out moulded concrete edges, flush with the carriageway but with various types of texture which would give warning if a vehicle strayed onto them. The test site wasn't on a motorway at all, but actually on a short section of A1 in the vicinity of Elkesley.

The edges were made as kerbstones - pre-moulded concrete blocks that were laid at the roadside with the road surface laid to meet them. Some had raised squares, some had indentations, some sloped upwards away from the road to form a sort of semi-kerb, some were striped with raised and lowered sections, etc.

The experiment was not ultimately considered successful, and the edge markings were all removed, which explains why these edge markings were not employed and tactile edge lines only appeared with the invention of rumble strips.

People with camera copies

None known.