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The Museum
of Road Signs and Signals
and street lighting
Vertical
signs
In the 1920s and 1930s, Belgium saw the appearance of signposts similar to those deployed in France. The example shown here comes from Hoût-Si-Plout (Esneux), and was reinstalled in 2005 by the municipal services, following a major renovation (photo taken in January 2023).
This corner bollard may have been made in Péruwelz. It is made of concrete, and the nameplates are enamel on volcanic lava. At the time, there was no mention of the signal's reflective qualities, although some people thought the brightness of the enamel could help at night. Retroreflection originated in the United States after the Second World War (3M). This light reflection technique used microbeads (see also the "News" tab, "visit to the Potters factory in Fleurus"). The technology has evolved considerably, with the use of microprisms instead of microbeads.
In its archives, the MuSé has photos of the Francorchamps circuit in 1939, where the signposts were painted on wooden supports.
As early as 1908, international conferences were held to simplify and standardise road signs (1908: Paris).
From 16 to 30 March 1931, the European Conference on Road Traffic was held in Geneva (League of Nations). The shapes of signs and certain pictograms were proposed. For road signs, "the choice of colours is optional", but red is banned.
1968 was a pivotal year for the United Nations Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. The signatory countries agreed to implement the results of this convention on the standardisation of road signs and symbols and road markings. These agreements cover danger signs, regulatory signs (priority, prohibition, obligation) and indication signs (information, direction, service). The shapes and colours are also defined, but there will be differences between certain countries in the use of colours (green for the motorway in Belgium, blue in France).
The recommendations stipulated that the STOP sign could be announced with another identical sign and an announced distance. Belgium, like France, preferred to keep the warning sign with a pointed triangle and a distance.
Definition:
Vertical signage includes all the signs, panels, bollards and markers that line our roads, motorways and other public thoroughfares.
Historical background:
The signs we know today are the result of a long process of adaptation in response to changes in traffic patterns, as well as international efforts to standardise them. Before 1900, road signs were mainly the result of initiatives by automobile clubs and major car manufacturers (in France, Michelin and Peugeot, for example). At the time, these were mainly directional signs, and there were mainly text panels, and sometimes panels with drawings whose meaning was specific to the country.
-Enamelled signs:
Making an enamelled road sign is quite an art. Much more than just making a sign, it's the art and mastery of the techniques involved in enamelling that need to be highlighted.
Enamelling involves working enamel powders on a support, in this case metal, to produce a sign that meets the requirements of the moment.
The metal sheet was first given a surface treatment to prepare it. Then the enamel was applied using the stencil technique. Stencilling was a fairly traditional technique for reproducing numbers, letters or symbols. The stencil was placed on the metal support, allowing the enamel powder to pass through only in a controlled manner over the surface to be treated. The assembly was then heated to 820° to fix the enamel to the support. When there were several colours, the operation was repeated for each colour. Incidentally, we know that the temperatures required to fix the enamels were different for each colour.
MuSé has a number of enamelled road signs, dating from before the Second World War to the 1950s or even 1960s.
Here is a fine example, manufactured by Ets Sacré in Liège.
Take a close look at this splendid historic photo from 1954 of the Quai Mativa in Liège. It shows a sign warning of the presence of a school.
The symbol used on this sign complies with the recommendations made at the European Road Traffic Conference in Geneva in March 1931. It is also mentioned in the International Notebook published by Esso in 1951. It appears that the first layer applied to the metal base was white enamel, followed by blue.
This symbol has been out of use since 1975. However, this road sign can still be found, forgotten on the facade of an old school. Didier Vanloock took this photograph in December 2021. Note the excellent condition of the enamel!
Enamelled directional signs have also been rolled out across the region. This sign is unique in that it is printed on both sides. In the photo (Second World War), we can clearly see the justification for this double-sided printing.
Once again, these signs were manufactured in accordance with the recommendations of the European Conference on Road Traffic held in Geneva in March 1931.
The street signs were also made from enamel.
The Rue des Rivageois plaque is flat, while the Rue Ferrer plaque is curved. If you look at the relief, it seems that the blue enamel was placed first, followed by the white.
The range of enamels used for road signs includes white, blue, red and black.
-Signalling and retroreflection:
Retroreflection is defined by the amount of light reflected by the sign back to its source, i.e. the road user (various headlights).
Before the Second World War, retroreflection was already a subject of interest: for example, it was proposed that signs should be positioned at the same height as car headlights. On the other hand, it was thought that the brightness of the enamel could help at night. Another idea was to use glass cabochons judiciously placed on the sign to attract motorists' attention. These cabochons fell into disuse for more than half a century, only to reappear at road kerbs, for example, when the road user's attention is required.
Retroreflective sheeting was invented in the United States in 1939. They arrived in Europe in 1944. The principle was simple: to create a transparent plastic film, which could be coloured, containing glass microbeads (less than 1/10th of a millimetre) capable of reflecting the light emitted by vehicle headlights. This retroreflective product is owned by the well-known company 3M (3M: Minnesota Mining and Manufactoring Co Ltd).
The idea of using microbeads for retroreflection came from Mr Rudolphe Potters in the USA. The word "retroreflective" dates from 1972, in place of the word "reflectorised".
The aim of retroreflection is to make roads safer by improving the visibility of road signs. This gives drivers more time to react to the indications on the signs.
Take a close look at these four sets. Compared to the other three, the one on the left is much less visible. It is not retroreflective, which is not the case for the other three sets. This shows the value of retroreflective film, especially as here there is a priority sign and a prohibition sign.
There are two types of retroreflective film:
-Those composed of microbeads inserted in an acrylic resin.
-Those composed of microprisms moulded in a transparent acrylic resin.
-Road signs in Belgium:
In 1975, the highway code was revised. Old traffic signs were removed from the code, new ones appeared and some symbols were modernised. Here are a few examples, with their specific retroreflective features
Painted sheet metal
"Road and bridge" model
First generation microbeads
Before 1975, tolerated until 1 January 1981
"Road and bridge" model
Microprisms
Since 1975
Painted sheet metal
Before 1975
"Road and bridge" model
Microbeads
1975 sign
White microbead symbols
Sheet metal painted blue
Single sheet
Microbead assembly
Blue printed colour
Since 1975
Before 1975,
enamelled sheet metal
"Road and bridge" model
White microbead symbols
Sheet metal painted blue
Since 1975
-Sponsored road signs:
Until the 1970s, it was possible to see road signs sponsored by companies and commercial enterprises. This enabled road managers to equip their streets at lower cost. But the rules were precise: the sponsor's text could not exceed 1/6th of the surface area of the sign.
-The sign, how it's made and the colours:
Road users may be used to the different colours of traffic signs, but do they know how they are made?
Mass-dyed retroreflective films are available. The acrylic resin used to "trap" the microbeads is tinted and each part of the signal must be glued separately and manually to the substrate.
Different films can be superimposed. The base is a white retroreflective film, onto which other transparent coloured films, in this case orange, are manually affixed. A black opaque film is added here because the design of the panel requires it.
On a background of white retroreflective film, large printers print the panel from a pre-determined digital base (screen printing). Manual intervention is greatly reduced.
-The highway code:
On 5 June 2024, the federal government of Belgium launched the new ‘public highway’ code, replacing the highway code. The aim is to organise the flow of traffic on the public highway for all users, not just cars and lorries. This overhaul will see the introduction of 45 new signs, as well as the disappearance of rather obsolete signs such as those prohibiting handcarts from using a roadway. The new code will also involve the modernisation of certain signs... But also the abandonment of certain types. For example, the good old A31 ‘travaux’ sign will see the definitive disappearance of the male worker in his cap and clogs... A bit of Belgium disappears.
And many other signals from yesteryear,
and stories at the MuSé
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