Pavement markers are installed into the pavement to give drivers important, though often subtle, signals about how to proceed. You see them every time you’re on the road—those yellow and white reflectors that go along the painted lines of the road and offer increased lane division visibility to drivers at night and during adverse conditions (like when the roads are glossy from recent rain or hard to see because of heavy snow falling.)

While there are a wide variety of pavement markers—they can be painted on the road, recessed into the road, or adhered to the surface of the pavement—the most durable are those which are recessed into the road after a groove has been cut into the pavement for the marker to be placed into.

These types of recessed road markers are most often the reflectors described above. They are made of a heavy duty plastic or aluminum frame holding a reflector or, in more modern versions, a solar panel and led lights. These led road markers collect solar energy during the day and emit a consistent glow all night or during inclement weather when the sun is blocked.

While the markers mounted directly on the pavement require a soft-rubber setting that allows the hard-cast elements to sink-in when driven over, recessed markers are far more durable because they are protected from traffic by a surrounding of pavement. The installation of these markers is slightly more involved because the pavement must be cut first. This is typically done using a diamond saw blade. These blades are strong and durable enough to cut through hard pavement types and have been used since 1978 for the installation of recessed pavement markers. Diamond saw blades can also be used to score and space raised markers, though this process requires a unique raised pavement marker blade.