10/11/2020
MORE THAN 1,5 MILLION METERS OF LINE MARKING IN ECUADOR!
“We innovate to save lives” or as ST puts it in Spanish in their payoff, “Innovamos para salvar vidas”.
José Navarrete is the general manager of ST that was founded in 2008 by his brother Alejandro Navarrete during the boom in the road construction in Ecuador. At that time, the company was offering installation and services of vertical traffic signs.
ST is committed to road safety and focuses their business on the innovation of products and services that protect users of the roads. With more than 50 employees, the Ecuadorian company covers not only the whole of Ecuador but also other parts of the Latin American region.
In 2011, with the vision of growth and taking on new business opportunities, ST decided to enter the thermoplastic application services.
“We wanted the best technology in the world and went to search for it at Intertraffic in Amsterdam in 2012. Here we discovered Borum and bought a BM 5000 for thermoplastic extrusion application as well as two large preheaters”. - José Navarrete, General Manager of ST
Already one year later, they bought their third preheater, and only two years later their second Borum machine. With these machines ST applies different line types and profiled markings such as Dots and Flex lines (rumble lines).
“We have one team for each of the Borum machines: One for the Borum 5000 and one for the Borum 250. Having two machines for large projects ensure the performance for the projects, and we can guarantee that the job is done on time”. - José Navarrete, General Manager of ST
Since 2012 to date ST has installed more than 1,5 million linear meters with their two Borum machines and they are renowned in their region for offering world class road marking solutions, both within application of lines and as a manufacturer of preformed thermoplastic.
ROAD MARKING IN THE WORLD’S HIGHEST SITUATED CAPITAL REQUIRES EXPERT TEAMS
The capital of Ecuador, city of Quito, is situated at a high altitude, having weather that can change rather quickly and roads with many steep slopes and sharp curves. In addition, the roads are extremely busy! This is not the easiest set-up for doing line marking!
“On extremely busy roads at high altitude with many curves - and with weather that can change rather quickly - you need to be able to rely on your team and your equipment”. - José Navarrete, General Manager of ST
All projects are very important for ST, however, two of them were emblematic and of great learning value for the company.
One of the projects was the line marking of the busiest road in Quito, Av. Simón Bolívar. This road accommodates more than 60.000 vehicles per day and is situated at 2,850 meters (9,350ft) above sea level and has many long and steep slopes. Seven-year ago, ST applied thermoplastic lines on the road. Even today, most of the lines still live up to the required standards. However, currently, the road is being refurbished and consequently, the line marking is being changed. Here the fresh thermoplastic lines are being applied with the Borum machine BM 250.
The second emblematic project was the Santo Domingo La Unión road (Calzada) in a region with permanent rain and high temperatures. ST applied more than 200 km of lines on this concrete road. Here the challenge was to derive the benefits of the thermoplastic such as long life and high retro-reflectivity levels by combining the primer system, the thermoplastic material and the glass beads.
Due to the high quality of lines with the correct combination of the materials, the signage still complies with the standards required by Ecuadorian regulations now five years later.
LONG-LASTING BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP
ST reveals that Borum was and still is a great business allied, and with the thermoplastic technology from Borum they will continue to offer high-performance, quality products and services in Ecuador for a long time to come.
