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FHWA Highway Safety Programs

SECTION 2: Brief History of High Friction Surface Treatments and Their Benefit

SECTION 2: Brief History of High Friction Surface Treatments and Their Benefit

HFSTs were originally developed in the United States during the 1950s using epoxy resin, but their use has increased in recent years. An HFST wearing surface has been successfully used in Europe and Asia for decades, including on a wide scale in London in the early 1970's. HFST wearing surface has also been tried and proven at a wide variety of sites as part of the FHWA's Surface Enhancements at Horizontal Curves (SEAHC) demonstration program. State-of-the-art friction measurement equipment has been used to verify the improved friction available after installation as well as to determine how well treated surfaces retain that friction over time.

Kentucky decided to use HFST to assist in effectively reducing highway fatalities. The following are other benefits for using this safety treatment:

  • HFST provides a durable and long-lasting solution for specific and defined roadway locations where a contributing factor in crashes is that the roadway friction demand exceeds the available pavement surface friction. HFST is a safety treatment that happens to be a pavement treatment.
  • The reported service life of HFST is approximately 10 years based on European experience and the oldest projects in the United States. Based on the performance of the initial projects placed in Kentucky since 2009, it is believed KYTC will realize a similar service life.
  • The benefit-cost ratio is many times higher for HFST when compared with other alternatives because the crash reductions continue for many years and the cost of other solutions–such as straightening horizontal curves–can be cost prohibitive and include significant environmental and right-of-way impacts.
  • Experience and data from Kentucky show HFST can be used where most needed, such as ramps and freeways, two-lane urban or rural roads at horizontal curves, areas near steep grades, areas at or near lane changes, and at rural and urban intersections.
  • Project lengths can be short, and because the HFST sets up quickly, the treatment can be applied in hours, resulting in minimal construction work zone impacts on local traffic.
  • HFST can be applied by equipment at a similar speed to other paving surface treatments, or it can be applied with hand tools.
  • HFST can be installed on both asphalt and portland cement concrete surfaces. The pavement, however, must be in fair condition to realize the desired service life.