Mar-Bal, Inc., is one of America’s fastest growing companies and the largest manufacturer of BMC molded Standoff Insulators in North America with the industry’s two leading brands—Glastic and Mar-Bal. In an effort to progressively expand its base of proprietary products and diversify beyond its core electrical, appliance, and industrial market stronghold and into the construction and safety industry, Mar-Bal acquired (September 2018) all of the assets of both AlertTile® (including AlertCast®) and Detectable Warning Systems (including RediMat™). The businesses acquired by Mar-Bal will now be branded under the umbrella brand of Detectable Warning Systems™ (DWS) as part of the Mar-Bal proprietary family of products.
ADA-COMPLIANT TACTILE
Today, there are more than 40 million people with disabilities in the United States, including more than 10 million blind or visually impaired people, and that number is projected to grow dramatically as the population ages.
One of the most seminal federal laws for civil rights ever passed to address this issue is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA 4.29) of 1990, which ensures that public domains in the United States are safe and accessible to everyone—regardless of health or handicap. In 1991, the ADA implemented specific Accessibility Guidelines for Detectable Warning Surfaces that were required on hazardous vehicle ways, transit platform edges, reflecting pools, curb, and wheelchair ramps, etc.
These detectable warning surfaces, also called truncated domes, are tactile indicators and tactile pavers that provide “cues” to persons with vision impairments—alerting them that they’re walking into a hazardous vehicular area or change of grade. These are the products that comprise the broad scope of the DWS line—which are now a part of the proprietary product family of Mar-Bal, Inc. DWS is now one of the industry’s most complete lines of ADA compliant tactile warning surfaces, engineered for visually impaired pedestrians at a reasonable cost to contractors, distributors, states, and municipalities for a myriad of market applications including: Health Care-Disability, Rail-Transport, Architecture, Infrastructure, Composites-Plastics, etc.
Mar-Bal’s advanced DWS line of detectable warning surface products offers both composite and flexible materials for either cast-in-place or surface applied applications including the following brands:
- RediMat: Surface applied, flexible, glass-filled polyurethane on existing asphalt (or concrete)
- AlertTile: Surface applied, rigid composite, truncated domes
- AlertCast: Cast-in-place, rigid composite–“The industry’s best replaceable detectable warning”
- Cast Iron™: Premium grey iron detectable warning plate designed for use in cold, harsh climates
FOUNDATION PARTNER
Anthony Lignetta, Mar-Bal’s director, proprietary products, notes the company’s progressive commitment not only to composites advancement, but to the higher cause of the DWS line helping the visually impaired via their involvement with The Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education.
According to Lignetta, “Mar-Bal will be donating a percentage of the sale of every DWS tile to The Helen Keller Foundation. As a partner with the Foundation, there is a great opportunity to provide stewardship and ally Helen Keller’s legacy with solutions to those with disabilities–including blindness and deafness.”
For more about The Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education contact: hellenkellerfoundation.org
CLOSING THOUGHT
The Mar-Bal team has all their collective “ducks-in-a-row” to grow the newly acquired DWS business, and promote composites growth in the construction and safety markets. As the “one-source” detectable warnings surface supplier, Mar-Bal will truly be the manufacturer of the entire Detectable Warning Systems process—from production to sales and new product development.
for more information:
For more about on Mar-Bal’s line of DWS products, visit www.detectable-warning.com,or call 440.543.7526.
Modern Contractor Solutions, January 2020
Did you enjoy this article?
Subscribe to the FREE Digital Edition of Modern Contractor Solutions magazine.
