Highways England has carried out a two-day large testing session at an off-road site in its attempt to find new products that prevent and remove graffiti.
The government-owned company said graffiti on bridges and next to roads can be distracting for drivers and that removing graffiti often requires road closures and can cost up to £10,000 for a single case.
Offensive graffiti has to be removed within 24 hours, which can mean disrupting traffic at short notice.
In the testing session at Gravelly Hill Interchange in Birmingham – Spaghetti Junction – three products or methods were tested to help identify those that most successfully remove graffiti quickly and safely whilst being ‘eco-friendly’.
Another three solutions that go beyond the coatings traditionally used to prevent graffiti were trialled.
Highways England head of innovation Annette Pass said: ‘We know that people don’t want to see roads blighted by vandalism and have been working hard to detect and remove graffiti. But doing so causes disruption to road users and takes away funds that would be better invested in our roads.
'It also means workers having to go out onto the network to clean it off, potentially putting them at risk.
‘Through this initiative we want to identify products that will remove graffiti more effectively than our traditional methods and also those that could prevent it from appearing in the first place.’
The graffiti trials blast off at Spaghetti Junction
Highways England has worked with contractor Kier and Connected Places Catapult (CPC) on the initiative.
The techniques tested included ‘super repellent’ anti-graffiti solutions, preventative coatings which saw the paint simply wash off with soapy water (below) or rainwater, while one firm blasted off the graffiti with recycled glass pellets.
The trials also aim to give participants insight into what further development would need to be made to meet the required standards for approved use by Highways England, with the company’s technical specialists offering advice.
Highways England is also running a competition to identify up to six new and innovative solutions focused on graffiti prevention and deterrence.
Concepts and products submitted by more than a dozen companies are currently being considered, with the most promising entries to be taken forward to the trials stage.
The cost of the initiatives has been met through Highways England’s Innovation and Modernisation Designated Fund.
