HOLLYWOOD : Plastic Freeway Wall Designed to Resist Graffiti
A plastic sound wall on the southbound Hollywood Freeway will help the California Department of Transportation reduce its $3-million graffiti cleanup bill in the county, an official said Wednesday.
The $55,000 wall at Melrose Avenue is 210 feet long, made of recycled plastic and has an “easy cleaning feature,” said Caltrans District 7 Director Jerry Baxter. It is the second graffiti-resistant sound wall in the Southland. The other is on the northbound Santa Ana Freeway off-ramp at Grand Avenue. If the wall passes a year of performance evaluations, Baxter said, Caltrans may install similar barriers on freeways around the state.
The recycled plastic sound walls dampen freeway noise, have a surface that allows graffiti to be easily wiped off with a rag and solvent and allow for carvings to be filled in, Caltrans officials said.
The recycled plastic is employed widely in Europe. It also is used for benches, picnic tables, planters and playground equipment. The walls are made of discarded plastic ground into plastic chips at recycling centers, then pressed into plastic “lumber,” resembling redwood or cedar.
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