How it’s made: road signs
Road signs are crucial to the safety of drivers. There is no need to say, there are more cars out there on the road now than there are people – and not all people own a car. Cars are the main means of road transportation, therefore it is imperative that car owners and drivers are provided with a safe system. Without road signs, roads would be impracticable and chaotic.
Road signs come in all shapes and colors and we’ve grown so accustomed to seeing and reading them on the side of the road that we seldom think about their history or the manufacturing process.
Here is some info you might find interesting.
- Materials used in the manufacturing of road signs
Every road sign in New Jersey, NJ is created using three basic materials:
– A blank
– A sign copy
– Background sheeting
– To these you can add the retroreflexive paint and sheets, coloring, numbers, letters
The blank is used to create the sign’s framework. They are made of aluminum, plywood or steel. Of all, plywood is the less expensive to use and it is usually strong enough to “do the job”; however, it is the victim of weather damage and therefore not all manufacturers are using it when creating road signs. At the other end, aluminum is the “noble” material here; it does not rust, but it is the most expensive of all.
- Manufacturing process
There are six main steps that need to be followed when creating a road sign, namely:
– Cutting the sign blank
– Checking the blank
– Eliminating grease from the blank (a process known as degreasing)
– Cutting the retroreflexive sheets
– Applying sheet to sign blank
– Heating the sign
So that’s how road signs are manufactured. Next time you’re driving off a road sing you’ll know what it’s made of and how it was created.
