NEW COLOUR OPTIONS FOR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Colour is crucial to road safety. It separates traffic streams, can warn of hazards and may be used, with changes in surface height and texture, to calm traffic flow in danger areas. Colour management specialist GretagMacbeth recently faced a challenge when asphalt producer Aggregate Industries sought colour management instrumentation to ensure conformity in a new coloured asphalt - Europave.
    The new asphalt offers road engineers an unlimited range of colours and textures. The breakthrough has been made possible by a clear binder that makes blacktop just one in a whole spectrum of options. The structural and textural properties of Europave are determined by the aggregates used. Colours are unlimited and are determined by selection of appropriate pigments.
    To ensure absolute colour consistency Aggregate Industries approached GretagMacbeth for suitable colour management systems. Spectrophotometers are instruments that measure colour and give a digital value. This unique colour fingerprint enables colours to be accurately formulated, monitored and validated at every production stage. GretagMacbeth's hand held ColorEye XTH instruments are used by Aggregate Industries for colour control throughout the plant and on site. This gives an instantaneous colour reading and an unambiguous accept/reject result.
    GretagMacbeth offer a complete range of products for colour education, formulation and monitoring. These make it possible for engineers to specify precise colour finishes, irrespective of substrate. The company run a specifier education programme that includes a national series of seminars.    

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