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A first in France. Eiffage Route and Gironde-based Olikrom, who formalized their collaboration a year ago, inaugurated a luminescent cycle path in Pessac yesterday. The primary objective is to enhance road safety by improving the visibility of road markings. After a test run in Pessac, the product is due to be marketed in France in 2019, then internationally.<\/p>\n
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You have to wait until nightfall to see the effects. The result is then very visible. On a completely dark road, visibility is increased by 50 to 100 meters. The road lights up. To achieve this, a luminescent white strip was laid on the ground of a cycle path in Pessac. The secret? A paint developed by Pessac-based company Olikrom, LuminoKrom\u00ae.<\/p>\n
“This paint, which contains innovative, long-lasting pigments, captures and stores sunlight or light from headlights all day and releases it all night”, explains Jean-Fran\u00e7ois L\u00e9tard, founder of Olikrom, a specialist in intelligent pigments.<\/p>\n
Read also: Intelligent pigments: Olikrom inaugurates its pilot unit<\/p>\n
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The idea is not new:<\/p>\n
“A first attempt was made in the Netherlands, but failed as soon as the technology left the laboratory. There were indeed several challenges: developing this paint while complying with road markings, which had to be anti-slip. It took two years of research,” admits Jean-Fran\u00e7ois L\u00e9tard. The key to success, in my opinion, is to master all the stages, from pigment manufacture to paint, and then to integrate it into the finished product.<\/p>\n
In Pessac, the test is being carried out over a 2-kilometer stretch, the idea being to obtain the necessary certifications for marketing in France as early as next year, and then internationally. “It’s a global market,” insists Jean-Fran\u00e7ois L\u00e9tard.<\/p>\n
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In addition to bicycle lanes, a number of other applications are rapidly being considered, notably to improve safety at dangerous points, in the immediate vicinity of crosswalks, in school zones and on rural bends. “The aim is to find solutions to improve road safety, the priority being to protect the most vulnerable”, insists Fran\u00e7ois Olard, Research and Innovation Director at Eiffage Route.<\/p>\n
This achievement, made possible thanks to the I-Street innovation program coordinated by the Eiffage Group and supported by Ademe, prefigures a road of the future that is not only safer, but also more economical and more ecological. Although the cost of this top-of-the-range paint job has not been revealed, “it will still be less expensive than building a new infrastructure”, says Fran\u00e7ois Olard. “To light this Pessac trail, we would have had to dig trenches, touch tree roots and install relatively low lampposts,” says Eric Martin, 1st deputy mayor of Pessac. “In addition, Pessac was the first town in France with a population of over 50,000 to test switching off street lighting at night.<\/p>\n
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A few days ago, Olikrom was awarded the Indusrial Nugget prize at the Grands Prix de l’industrie du futur organized in Nice by La Tribune.<\/p>\n
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