Skip to main content

Mobile LTL-M from DELTA

Danish company DELTA has been highlighting its new mobile retrometer, the LTL-M, which will measure line width and other geometry properties and also be able to monitor defective or missing road pavement markers. Measuring the retroreflectivity of road markings is essential to ensure high visibility, and thus traffic safety. But, according to DELTA, until now the measurements of retroreflectivity have mostly been done with hand-held instruments.
February 6, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The LTM-prototype during the VTI field test
Danish company 199 Delta has been highlighting its new mobile retrometer, the LTL-M, which will measure line width and other geometry properties and also be able to monitor defective or missing road pavement markers.

Measuring the retroreflectivity of road markings is essential to ensure high visibility, and thus traffic safety. But, according to DELTA, until now the measurements of retroreflectivity have mostly been done with hand-held instruments.

It says that while such instruments are easy to use for making a limited number of measurements they are not optimal for monitoring long distances such as motorways: the road also has to be partly closed during measurements. As traffic increases, there is a growing demand for mobile measurement methods, which offer more safety for staff and drivers in traffic speed.

DELTA says that some existing mobile retrometers have limitations in accuracy and for this reason have until now only been used for screening purposes, while hand-held instruments are still needed for precise measurements if low values are screened, and for contractual disputes.

The company is now introducing its new mobile retrometer based on a new optical technology that has the same properties as used in its series of hand-held LTL retrometers.

"The objective for the development of the LTL-M has been to make a mobile retrometer that should be as easy to use and as accurate as a hand-held retrometer," says DELTA.

"Several laboratory and field tests performed by the Swedish Road Research Institute (VTI), comparing the LTL-M, an existing mobile retrometer and using a hand-held instrument as a reference, have shown that the LTL-M measures with accuracy similar to hand-held retrometers."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Data collection key to software developments
    February 13, 2012
    The collection and handling of data are key technology drivers in the software sector. New methods of data collection and manipulation are driving significant developments in software at present. The latest technology allows designers and engineers to collect, store and manipulate ever larger amounts of data. Growing use of mobile field equipment for both data collection and field management is driving interactive systems. And in an interview this month Autodesk senior vice-president for the construction an
  • Estonia surveys major roads with a RetroTek-M retroreflectometer
    May 22, 2019
    During the past two years, Estonia’s Road Administration has clocked up 4,021km during a retroreflectivity project on all main state roads and on basic roads. Estonia’s Road Traffic Development Department of the Estonian Road Administration has been working with ERC Consulting to gather retroreflectivity data on road markings on all main state roads and basic roads. The work has shown that out of 1,609km of main state roads, 20% had problems. The reflective effect is created by glass beads on the surf
  • New non-destructive testing technologies for roads and bridges
    July 11, 2018
    Two new technologies for non-destructive testing offer key benefits, one suiting road surfaces, the other suiting concrete structures - Kristina Smith reports Dynatest has developed a new way to measure and record the state of pavements, using a machine that travels at the same speed as traffic. The Rapid Pavement Tester (Raptor) has been seven years in the making and offers road owners the chance to have comprehensive surveys without the need to disrupt traffic. “People have been wanting to do this for
  • Improve highway barriers to cope with higher speed
    February 24, 2012
    The UK association Britpave, the British In-situ Concrete Paving Association group, is keen to ensure that the country’s major highways will be able to cope with proposed speed limit increases. According to Britpave much of the UK motorway central reservation barriers may not be fit-for-purpose if the speed limit is increased from112-128km/h (70-80mph) as proposed recently.