Research of the Luminance of Asphalt Pavements in Trafficked Areas

Deimantė Lunkevičiūtė, Viktoras Vorobjovas (), Pranciškus Vitta and Donatas Čygas
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Deimantė Lunkevičiūtė: Department of Roads, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Sauletekio al. 11, 10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Viktoras Vorobjovas: Department of Roads, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Sauletekio al. 11, 10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Pranciškus Vitta: Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnology, Faculty of Physics, Vilnius University, Sauletekis av. 3, 10257 Vilnius, Lithuania
Donatas Čygas: Department of Roads, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Sauletekio al. 11, 10223 Vilnius, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: A key factor for safe and comfortable driving on roads are properly reflective and well visible pavement surfaces at night. The brightness of the road pavement surface depends on the amount of light falling on it and the reflection properties of the road pavement surface at any point. The luminance of the pavement depends on its physical condition, age and type of pavement, direction of illumination, and observation conditions. Different pavements can have different reflection characteristics that depend on the surface texture, materials, and binder (type and quantity). Experimental research was carried out on the carriageways and bicycle paths of Vilnius city streets, which differ in color and age. The analysis of the research results showed differences between the surface reflectance characteristics of these pavements depending on the color of the pavement, surface conditions, and age. The reflection properties of red asphalt pavements are better than black ones when the pavement surface is wet or moist. The reduced luminance coefficients of the carriageway (asphalt pavement installed in 2021) are about 12% lower than those of the carriageway pavement installed 10 years ago and about 60% lower for wet and moist pavements. The results obtained from the research are significant for street designers when choosing the type of pavement and designing street lighting.

Keywords: asphalt pavement; bicycle path; luminance coefficient; mean profile depths; reflection properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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