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

  • High marks for road marking solutions
    December 3, 2013
    A novel solution based on a leading road marking manufacturer’s proven marking technology is keeping elderly residents safe in a French residential development. Guy Woodford reports on this and other major road marking products and their applications By 2050, it is estimated that 45% of European Union citizens will be over 60. Many authorities have been working to develop and implement safety standards that will ensure enhanced mobility for their local elderly population. As part of their implementation,
  • Texas certification of RetroTek-MU operator a first
    July 27, 2018
    Striping Service and Supply is the first US contractor certified by the Texas Department of Transportation to operate the RetroTek-MU road striping Retroreflectometer. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute stringent certification programme provides a quantitative basis for evaluating the ability of a contractor to operate the RetroTek-MU retroreflectometer. The vehicle-mounted RetroTek-MU - manufactured by Reflective Measurement Systems, based in Dublin, Ireland - measures the retroreflectivity of lo
  • Developments in workzone safety systems
    May 3, 2012
    Raising awareness of safety in highway work zones is a global issue, and various initiatives highlight this as Patrick Smith reports. So seriously is work zone safety taken in the United States that each year since 1999 a special week has been set aside to highlight it. Each year in April, National Work Zone Awareness Week is held to bring national attention to motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones.
  • Developments in workzone safety systems
    February 8, 2012
    Raising awareness of safety in highway work zones is a global issue, and various initiatives highlight this as Patrick Smith reports. So seriously is work zone safety taken in the United States that each year since 1999 a special week has been set aside to highlight it. Each year in April, National Work Zone Awareness Week is held to bring national attention to motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones.