Road construction sees future in crystal ball

No, road construction has not turned en masse to the craft of fortune tellers. The glass globe we are talking about falls under the category of "road surface reflectors" and is gaining tremendous popularity. The reason? The solid glass bulb as a road surface reflector requires no maintenance, is extremely efficient and extremely strong. 

Let the specialist in the field of road surface reflectors now be a very Dutch company. Van Wylick road surface reflectors BV in Sint Michielsgestel has been in existence for 25 years and is the founder of the glass bulb reflector. Devised by director Chris van Wylick in 1993, this solid glass road surface reflector is today the powerful and sustainable solution for safe road use at night, in all weather conditions. We speak with daughter Lisette van Wylick about the LUX glass bulb reflector and the other, ingenious solutions the company has to offer.

"We like to show the way in less to poor visibility."
With that statement, Lisette begins the conversation. "Our glass balls have their own CE mark and are becoming increasingly popular. Meanwhile, this solution needs no further explanation. This is due to its sustainable nature and easy application. The glass spheres are mounted in the road surface and last longer than the asphalt. Add to that the beautiful property of 360˚ reflection and the self-cleaning character and you will understand that this is a sustainable investment for road authorities," Lisette said.

That Van Wylick is leading the way is not limited to supplying reflectors. "We also have a great solution for people with visual impairments, in the form of stainless steel guide lines and attention tips. With these, we create high-contrast, tactile guidance, extremely effective and highly resistant. This form of guidance is also gaining tremendous ground, especially now that the Netherlands has signed the UN Convention, which commits to making public spaces more accessible for everyone." 

The stainless steel guide lines, like the glass balls at the time, are a new product on the market. Again, a more sustainable choice than the products that are currently still used as standard. Recently, the TACK stainless steel guide lines have been supplied by a separate BV, "Van Wylick Routegeleiding.

TACK RVS guide lines Amstel station, Amsterdam.

Less energy consumption, better visibility
Within Van Wylick's expertise is also the LUX Solar, a proven road reflector with built-in solar panel and LED lighting. Lisette explains when this high-tech solution comes into the picture: "The street lighting as we know it is slowly changing. Smarter solutions are being looked at, for freeways, but especially for bicycle lanes. To properly mark the roadway and make it visible in the dark, the LUX Solar roadway markers are ideal. They are 100% water- and dust-proof and are completely perfected in terms of technology. A piece of electronics, a solar panel and an LED make each LUX Solar element autonomous in function. At dusk, the LED lights up and continues to do its job until dawn. The LUX Solar is so resistant that a truck can drive over it. We guarantee a functionality of 8 years, but can proudly report that the ones we installed 10 years ago, with the technology of the time, have functioned without any problems for all that time."

Comfortably delivered with mounting
Van Wylick emphasizes that it does the assembly of the LUX glass globe reflectors, LUX Solar elements and the TACK stainless steel guide lines in-house. "Simply because we can do this faster, more accurately and more efficiently than anyone else. This also allows us to guarantee that our products function properly. We have developed our own machine for the glass balls, which does the positioning and applies the glass balls fully automatically. As icing on the cake, the machine simultaneously sweeps the road," Lisette explains. "There is no second machine of this kind in the world."