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The Annual NCBA'sBy Donna Speidel
"Glass beads shall be distributed upon the marked areas at the locations shown on the plans to receive glass beads immediately after application of the paint. A dispenser shall be furnished that is properly designed for attachment to the marking machine and suitable for dispensing glass beads."
With shrinking budgets, airports have to do more with less; and it is evident even down to methods of dispensing glass beads used to reflectorize the markings. Creativity, innovation, ingenuity and resourcefulness are qualities we find among the maintenance personnel at seemingly every airport we visit. They should be rewarded: with the right tools for their jobs... but I digress.
The 2012 Beady Academy "Do It Yourself" Award goes to a modified fertilizer spreader. The genesis of this "dispenser" began when the contractor realized the wheels of his spreader would track wet paint during bead application. The solution: drilling screws into the bottom of the eight-inch plastic wheels to minimize tracking. Logically, I can only assume the bead applicator took the concept to his work boots as well! How did it turn out? Judge for yourself, the completed runway is pictured, right. The fact is, even when a contractor has all the right equipment, it's still difficult to ensure even appearance. The goal of any marking installation is to have both paint and beads dispensed uniformly with each pass; but it takes strict attention to the details to ensure that it is uniform and even. The FAA has gone out of its way to specify proper equipment is necessary, it's up to the rest of us to pay attention to the details. If you're a do-it-yourself kind of person, come learn how to do it the right way at the Airfield Marking Symposium. If you're not, check out our quality assurance services at sightline.us. |
Forget the Oscars. Forget the Emmys. It's time for the Beadys in the First (and probably only) Non-Compliant Beader Awards!
I would like to personally thank the Federal Aviation Administration for indirectly selecting all of our nominees. If you're
unaware of the relatively recent change to FAA guidance literature, here's what you missed:
We think the FAA is serious about eliminating poor practices with respect to marking application during new contstruction and
maintenance. Hence, the 2012 Beadys: we're saying goodbye to all of the ingenious, inventive, although occasionally awful beading systems we've
come across over the years. The clever contraptions were perhaps not the most suitable dispensers for the job, but we applaud the innovation
and problem solving abilities crews exhibited in most cases.
The Beadys also incorporated the contracting world. Since there are so many contractors out there using odd methods, the
nominations had to include them as well. Vigoro and Scott's may see a small dip in sales of fertilizer spreaders without the low-bid parking
lot stripers running out to Home Depot nationwide. If a fertilizer spreader isn't a bad enough idea out of the box, just adapt it to make sure
the markings will really be poor performers!
