What is reflective sheeting?

Reflective sheeting is the sheeting used to create reflective road signs, road signs, road signs, and road signs.

Basically, reflective sheeting is laminated to aluminum sign blanks of various sizes and shapes, then printed with whatever copy is needed, and you have a reflective traffic sign.

Reflective sheeting comes in various grades with the most common being “Engineer Grade”, “High Intensity Prismatic” and “Diamond Grade”. The USDOT requires a diamond grade for most interstate signs, and most state DOTs require it for school zones and stop signs and any signs that require your use and feel you need it. Those requirements vary from state to state.

“Engineering Grade” reflective sheeting is now used primarily for private business signs or decals and has less intense reflectivity than HIP or DG reflective sheeting. If you were to call to request reflective decals from our company, we would print them on “EG” reflective films.

What are traffic signal poles made of?

It depends. It depends on the jurisdiction in which the signs are located, for example.

If the sign is located on the interstate highway system, USDOT works with the state DOT to determine how sign systems are constructed. The USDOT allows some variation in the way the signs are placed.

In some jurisdictions, wooden poles are used to post some types of signs, although it appears that wood is rarely used for the large green and white wayfinding signs. Most of the time, traffic sign poles are built with welded and/or bolted steel frames, and even the smallest signs are now, at least in our area, mostly on steel poles.

However, I still see, in developments or commercial developments, pressure-treated wood studs being allowed. I personally recommend pre-drilled galvanized steel posts and post sleeves over wood or U-channel posts used by those trying to keep costs down.

What is the difference between a flat aluminum street name sign and an extruded aluminum one?

Flat aluminum is pretty self-explanatory and easy to describe, so I’ll do that first. Flat aluminum is actually extruded as well, but it is extruded in flat sheets, and most traffic control signs that are built with flat aluminum sheets are 080″ to 25″ thick, though most of the time In my experience, once the thickness moves beyond 125″ with flat sheets, either a support frame props up the sign, or we use extruded aluminum.

Extruded aluminum signs are typically extruded in channel-shaped sections, sometimes with “ribs” that support extrusion in high wind conditions. The extrusions are often “stacked” on top of each other and bolted together, then bolted to a galvanized steel frame that holds the entire sign together.

Stop signs, speed limit, school zone, and parking signs are almost never extruded, instead they are flat panel signs. Extruded signs are generally used only for large wayfinding signs, such as those on I-75 that tell you how far to Atlanta, Georgia or Lexington, Kentucky, or I-90 that tells you how far to Seattle, Washington . .

LAST UPDATE ON: July 30, 2018