Duff motorway sign posts
Discussion
Thought I would put this in here as the cause is probably scientific! maybe.
Coming home on the A46 last night (new bit near Lincoln) I noticed that the signage is pretty much unreadable. They seemed to have big thick dark stripes down them and blotchy patchwork patterns that obscured the lettering. I have no idea why they are like that.
My initial thought was condensation. The bracing behind the panels is laid out in a lattice of rectangles and what looks like condensation takes up about 85% of the total of each rectangle. I guess if it was cold enough the centers of each would get cold enough for condensation from the near by foliage to form, while the edges, being in contact with the bracing, which is in contact with the frame, in contact with the ground might remain (through conduction) warm enough to not have any condensation.
or
The sign post is made of smaller rectangular panels stitched together and whats happened is they have warped, bowing in or out. The reflective paint then, due to the shape of the panel, might scatter the light away from the road? or reflect it in such a way that interference cancels the light out? Plausible?
Either way, I would love to know why they go like that. I mean they really are un-readable at any distance, basically useless!
Coming home on the A46 last night (new bit near Lincoln) I noticed that the signage is pretty much unreadable. They seemed to have big thick dark stripes down them and blotchy patchwork patterns that obscured the lettering. I have no idea why they are like that.
My initial thought was condensation. The bracing behind the panels is laid out in a lattice of rectangles and what looks like condensation takes up about 85% of the total of each rectangle. I guess if it was cold enough the centers of each would get cold enough for condensation from the near by foliage to form, while the edges, being in contact with the bracing, which is in contact with the frame, in contact with the ground might remain (through conduction) warm enough to not have any condensation.
or
The sign post is made of smaller rectangular panels stitched together and whats happened is they have warped, bowing in or out. The reflective paint then, due to the shape of the panel, might scatter the light away from the road? or reflect it in such a way that interference cancels the light out? Plausible?
Either way, I would love to know why they go like that. I mean they really are un-readable at any distance, basically useless!
A lot of the sign panels now are fibreglass (with a nice sticker on the back saying it isn't metal and has no scrap value...), I presume this doesn't gain as much heat during the day as the metal so frost forms on it sooner. Certainly my fibreglass car seems to get more frost than my steel one.
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