Colloquially known as ‘cat’s eyes’, road studs are the small markers found on roads across the country. These can be reflective, non-reflective or even solar powered, but they all have one thing in common: they are used to make the boundaries of a road and its lanes more obvious, particularly in the dark.
At Hi-Way Services, we’ve built up a broad portfolio of road stud projects across the public and private sectors. We provide a local installation service, and all of our operatives are fully trained in the installation of every type of road stud. We offer both supply-only and supply-and-fit road stud arrangements, depending on your requirements.
Whether you require surface mounted reflective road studs (such as 3m roadmarkers or Stimsonite studs) or milled cats eyes (depressible rubber inserts), or solar powered studs, Hi-Way Services road stud crews have the experience and qualifications required to do the job.
The basic design of most road studs has hardly changed in 90 years: a reflective material is secured in a rubber casing, which sinks into its housing when you drive over it. When the stud is pushed down, it is cleaned with water or a wiper, ensuring that it retains its retroreflectivity.
Road studs provide both a visual and audible signal about the layout of a road, as the small bump when driving over them indicates that you are wandering out of your lane. This sensory feedback can be enhanced with a rib line which we also offer as part of our road markings service .
Road studs and cat’s eyes have a wide range of applications, from permanently delineating carriageways and lanes using temporary carriageway markings, to delineating car parking spaces. They also come in a variety of types and designs depending on the application.
Road studs are most commonly milled, meaning that a cavity is created in the road which the stud can be embedded into. Halifax studs are the familiar ones which depress into the road surface when you drive over them, while Stiglite, solar and Stimsonite click studs remain on the road surface, and are built to resist impacts and weathering.
As well as milled road studs, we’ve also worked on numerous projects with surface mounted reflective road studs, including 3M 290 and Stimsonite 980 road studs. We also frequently provide pedestrian metal studs, which are non-reflective studs used to delineate pedestrian areas such as paths and walkways.
While road studs are considered to be extremely safe, proper maintenance and installation is important. Several deaths have been attributed to improper road stud maintenance, most notably that of DJ Kemistry, who was killed when a loose metal casing was caught by the car’s tires, and propelled through the windscreen.
Although we are based in the South of England, we have undertaken projects across the UK with a variety of road stud types. Read through our Case Studies page for examples of our past work, or contact us today to find out more about what Hi-Way Services can do for you.
