12/11/2018
Press
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INNOVATION - On Monday, Pessac-based Olikrom and the Eiffage Route group presented their luminescent road, designed to improve the visibility of road markings at night...

 

Une route luminescente a été créée sur une piste cyclable près de Bordeaux par l'entreprise Olikrom. — Olikrom

 

  • This luminescent paint, which lights up at night, has been applied to a 2 km bike path in Pessac.
  • The aim is to improve road safety by enhancing night-time visibility for road users.
  • OliKrom and Eiffage Route intend to develop their concept on roads, traffic circles, crosswalks and freeway ramps.

 

Photoluminescence on tomorrow's roads

Will tomorrow's roads be luminescent? On Monday, Olikrom, a company based in Pessac, near Bordeaux, and the Eiffage Route group inaugurated a 2 km bicycle path in Pessac, equipped with this paint that lights up at night.

Olikrom and Eiffage Route have been working on this project for almost two years. "I contacted Olikrom in response to Ademe's 'Road of the Future' call for projects," explains François Olard, head of R&D for Eiffage's infrastructure division. Together with Total and Ifsttar, we won, thanks to this paint which will improve user visibility by 50 to 100 m." The aim of this innovation is to enhance road safety by improving the visibility of road markings at night and in poor weather conditions.

 

An attempt in the Netherlands

This photoluminescent road paint, called LuminoKrom®, captures and stores light from the sun or headlights, and gives it back at night. "The paint contains innovative, long-lasting pigments whose special feature is that they emit light without the need for a power source. An innovation that prefigures the more economical, more ecological and safer road of the future", assures Jean-François Létard, CEO of Olikrom.

Luminescence, i.e. the property of these materials to capture light during the day and restore it at night," he continues, "is a technology that has been around for a very long time. There had been an attempt in the road sector in the Netherlands, but this was quickly stopped because the technology was not stable. Our challenge was to maintain the luminescent properties at high intensity throughout the night. And for a paint that can be used industrially for road markings.

 

Lower financial cost than electrifying the infrastructure

This cycle path in Pessac was chosen as a full-scale test site, for several reasons: it had no street lighting, and it crosses an entire forested area. So it was the ideal testing ground, since we have different lighting environments," analyzes Jean-François Létard. And we found that the light emitted well in all these conditions, for guiding people on bicycles."

Apart from bicycle lanes, what else can this innovation be used for? It can be applied almost anywhere, although the aim is not to put it everywhere. "It's a paint that can be used in all areas where there is no street lighting, so it will be much cheaper than electrifying the infrastructure," promises François Olard. This applies to rural areas, of course, but we'll also be complementing the initiatives of towns and cities that have undertaken to switch off their lighting at night," adds Jean-François Létard. This paint will be able to outline traffic circles and safety features.

 

Paint to guide autonomous vehicles?

"We're not going to confine ourselves to road markings, but we're also planning to work on vertical signage, on freeway slip roads, road signs, bridge piers, etc.", says François Olard. The priority for 2019 will be "to set up experimental bylaws to protect crosswalks."

In 2020, "we're aiming for the international market, since we already have requests" and in the very long term this paint "could accompany the guidance of autonomous vehicles."

 

Find the link to the 20 Minutes article