Technology
April 16, 2019

Optimizing Your Productivity

When it comes to removing markings from roads and highways, there are many things that you can do to ensure a perfect removal. Knowing what to do can mean the difference between simply removing a line and damaging the pavement along with the line’s removal. We are here to offer some tips and tricks to help you optimize your production for the best results on any job!

First, consider the condition of your pavement. On a pavement rating of 50 or above, meaning that the pavement is in excellent to very good condition, you will want to use a more aggressive spray bar and/or nozzle configuration. Likewise, if you have a pavement index below 50, indicating pavement in poor quality containing cracks and heavy distress, you will want to use a less aggressive configuration to ensure that you don’t damage the pavement further.

Second, the width of the spray bar should never be more than two inches wider than the line being removed. For example, if you are removing a four inch line, you will want a six inch spray bar. This ensures that you will be able to remove the entirety of the line and reduce the width of the removal path. Using this in conjunction with appropriate pressure ensures little to no damage to the macro and micro textures of the surface, which could lead to hazards.

Lastly, keep your heads in-line or in tandem. You don’t want your spray bars to overlap on your removal path. Running with excessive overlap limits your forward speed to the area of single blast coverage while exposing the overlap areas with as much as twice the needed blasting time. You’ll want to run with two different widths of spray bars in situations where there is extra heavy build up in the center of a marking. Changing nozzle sizes can help increase or decrease the gallons per minute (GPM) that you will use and it’s very important to remember when you’re decreasing pressure in order to clean markings, rather than remove them.

These are just some of the things you can do to help ensure that your next removal job goes smoothly!