TxDOT Item 677 Eliminating Existing Pavement Markings and Markers: Bid Code Spec, Pricing and Post-Removal Requirements
Item 677's own name says "Markings and Markers," but read the payment clause and raised pavement marker removal isn't paid under this item at all, it's subsidiary to whatever item covers the marker work itself. That's an easy trap to fall into pricing off the item name alone. This covers the 8 bid codes that show up most often across recent TxDOT lettings, the four removal methods and what each one actually requires, and what's really bundled into a unit price that, on the linear width codes, is often just a few dollars.
TxDOT Item 677 Bid Code Variants: What Determines Pricing
Item 677 pays for eliminating existing markings "of the type and width as applicable." Two things determine what you're actually pricing:
- Width or shape. Linear removal codes run 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24 inch, priced by the foot. Arrow and word removal are priced by each, not by the foot, and cost far more per unit, $66.50 to $72 in this data against $0.40 to $3.70 for the linear codes. A legend isn't a wider line, it's a different pricing basis entirely.
- Which removal method the job requires, even though the method itself isn't a separate pay line. The spec gives four choices, Surface Treatment, Burn, Blasting, and Mechanical, and lets you pick unless the plans specify one. They carry genuinely different equipment and material costs, but they're all paid at the same unit price for the same width or shape. The method you choose is a cost decision you make, not a separate line item you bid.
- Even the linear codes carry a real, if small, unit price. Removal by the foot on the narrower widths runs well under a dollar, 40 to 80 cents in this data, genuinely small, but a priced rate, not a free item.
TxDOT Item 677 Pricing: Key Takeaways
- Raised pavement marker removal is not paid under this item, despite the item's own name. It's subsidiary to pertinent Items, priced elsewhere, not here.
- Legends price on a completely different basis than linear removal. Arrow and word removal average $66.50 to $72 each, against well under a dollar per foot for width-based codes.
- Damage beyond 1/8 inch deep triggers a repair obligation, spalling or shelling on asphaltic surfaces resulting from the removal work itself.
- A "driver confusion" standard can trigger additional treatment, at the Engineer's discretion, when removed markings still read as markings to drivers.
- This is a plans quantity item. You're paid the proposal quantity, not a field remeasure, same as Item 666's measurement basis.
Cost Factors for TxDOT Item 677 Eliminating Existing Pavement Markings and Markers
Cost Factors That Vary by Bid Code
Work through these one code at a time. They're what makes 677-7008 a different number than 677-7002.
- Width, on the linear codes. Price scales with width, roughly doubling as width doubles across this data's 4 through 24 inch range, consistent with a removal cost driven by area rather than a flat per-line rate.
- Legend versus linear. Arrows and words are priced by each, not by the foot, and carry no linear rate to speak of. Pricing a legend removal off your per-foot linear rate will leave you significantly short.
- Removal method, as a cost input even though it isn't its own pay line. Surface Treatment needs actual surface treatment materials, asphalts, oils, emulsions, aggregate, priced under separate material Items. Burn needs approved burning equipment and heat control to avoid spalling. Blasting needs equipment capable of high-pressure water, abrasive, shot, slurry, water-injected abrasive, or brush blasting, plus moisture and oil traps in the air compression system. Mechanical needs equipment that excludes grinding entirely, and excludes flail milling specifically on grooved concrete or porous asphalt. Four different cost structures behind one unit price.
- Surface type. Concrete and asphalt both fall under this item, but the damage-repair obligation below is specific to asphaltic surfaces, concrete doesn't carry the same spalling and shelling repair trigger in the spec text.
- Whether the removal area involves a directional traffic change. The spec requires wider coverage in these areas specifically, covered next, a real scope difference tied to the plan layout, not the marking itself.
Cost Factors That Apply to Every TxDOT Item 677 Bid Code
These don't separate one removal method from another. They sit under all of them.
- The finish standard is a visual match, not just removal.
"Eliminate existing pavement markings and markers on both concrete and asphaltic surfaces such that color and texture contrast of the removed area and surrounding pavement surface will be held to a minimum."
That's a quality bar beyond "the marking is gone," the removed area has to blend with the surrounding pavement, to the Engineer's satisfaction. - Minimal damage is the standard, and it's judged by the Engineer.
"Remove all markings and markers with minimal damage to the roadway to the satisfaction of the Engineer."
- Disposal of markers follows regulatory requirements, not just project cleanup.
"Dispose of markers in conformance with federal, state, and local regulations."
- Directional traffic change areas require wider treatment than the marking itself.
"Place a surface treatment, thin overlay, or microsurfacing at least one lane in width in areas where directional changes of traffic are involved or other areas as directed."
A full lane width, not just enough to cover the removed line. Easy to underprice if you're scoping off the marking's own width rather than the traffic pattern around it.
TxDOT Item 677 Payment Terms: Subsidiary Work vs. Separately Paid Items
This is where the item's own name is the trap. Read past it to the payment clause and the scope is narrower than "Markings and Markers" suggests.
What's included in the unit price, all of it, one number:
"This price is full compensation for the elimination method used and materials, equipment, tools, labor, and incidentals."
Whichever of the four methods you use, materials, equipment, labor, all bundled into the same per-foot or per-each price.
What's not paid under this item at all, despite being named in the title:
"Removal of RPMs will not be paid for directly, but will be subsidiary to pertinent Items."
Raised pavement marker removal is subsidiary to other items, not a component of the price you bid here. If your estimate assumes Item 677 covers marker removal because the item name says "Markers," that scope has to be found and priced somewhere else in the bid, or it goes unpriced entirely.
No separate line for method selection. Surface Treatment, Burn, Blasting, and Mechanical all settle into the same unit price, the method is a cost decision embedded in your bid, not a choice the payment structure prices differently.
TxDOT Item 677 Post-Removal Requirements: Damage Repair and the Driver-Confusion Standard
Item 677 doesn't carry an ongoing monitoring obligation or a measured performance number. Its risk shows up in two places right after the removal work itself, one with a hard numeric trigger, one left to the Engineer's judgment.
Damage beyond 1/8 inch is a repair obligation, not a tolerance you can shrug off.
"Repair damage to asphaltic surfaces such as spalling and shelling greater than 1/8 in. deep resulting from the removal of pavement markings and markers."
That's a specific, measurable threshold. Cross it during removal and you own the repair.
"Still looks like a marking" is a real trigger, and it's subjective.
"Whenever removed markings on asphalt surfaces continue to simulate pavement markings to an extent determined by the Engineer to cause driver confusion, apply a fog seal or slurry at least 2 ft. wide over the area where pavement markings were removed as approved."
Unlike the 1/8 inch damage threshold, this one has no fixed measurement, it's the Engineer's judgment call on whether ghosting from the removed marking could confuse drivers. That's real exposure on a job where removal leaves a visible shadow, even if nothing about the removal itself was done wrong.
Pricing Considerations for Post-Removal Requirements
- Price the burn and blast methods with spalling risk in mind, since both carry an explicit caution against surface damage, and damage past 1/8 inch is a repair cost on top of the removal itself.
- Carry a contingency for the driver-confusion fog seal or slurry, especially on asphalt removals where ghosting is more visible than on concrete, since this trigger is discretionary and can't be fully priced out in advance.
- Scope directional-change areas at full lane width from the start, not the marking's own width, that's where the spec's coverage requirement actually sits.
- Separate RPM removal into its own pricing line entirely, sourced from whichever item actually pays for it, not folded into your Item 677 numbers.
TxDOT Item 677 Bid Item Pricing Data
Average unit price across TxDOT lettings over the last 24 months. Each code links to its full pricing page, where you can see the spread by competitor, by district, and by quantity band.
Pricing Analysis: Key Cost Comparisons Across TxDOT Item 677
677-6001 and 677-7001 carry nearly identical descriptions, "ELIM EXT PAV MRK & MRKS (4")" and "ELIM EXT PM & MRKS (4")," and 6001 prices 50 percent above 7001, $0.60 against $0.40. That's a real, computable premium at this precision, in the same direction as the pattern seen on Item 500, 6xxx pricing above 7xxx there too. That direction isn't universal, though: Item 644 shows the opposite, 6xxx pricing consistently below 7xxx across its matched pairs, and Item 506 showed no consistent direction at all. Whatever separates the two code series isn't uniform across items, confirm the direction per item rather than assuming a 6xxx-versus-7xxx rule of thumb carries over.
Legend removal prices on an entirely different scale than linear removal, and that's the real signal in this data.
A word or arrow isn't a wide line, it's a shaped removal with its own labor profile, and the price reflects that directly, not a linear extrapolation from the per-foot rate.
Width scaling on the linear codes isn't a smooth curve, it holds flat, then climbs. 4 and 6 inch price identically at $0.40, a floor rather than a width-driven rate. From 8 inch onward, price roughly doubles as width doubles, $0.80, $1.70, $3.70, consistent with removal cost tracking area once you're past whatever fixed minimum applies to the narrowest lines. Don't assume 6 inch removal costs meaningfully more than 4 inch, this data says it doesn't, but don't extend that flat assumption to 8 inch and above either.
Executing TxDOT Item 677: Avoiding Rework and Ensuring Payment
For whoever's running the job. Same spec, stated as things to do.
Rework Triggers Under TxDOT Item 677
- Spalling or shelling on asphaltic surfaces deeper than 1/8 inch, resulting from the removal method used
- Removed markings that still simulate pavement markings enough to cause driver confusion, at the Engineer's determination
- Color or texture contrast between the removed area and surrounding pavement beyond what the Engineer considers minimal
- Grinding used as a removal method, or flail milling used on grooved concrete or porous asphalt, both explicitly excluded
- Markers disposed of outside federal, state, or local regulatory requirements
Field Compliance Requirements for TxDOT Item 677
- Moisture and oil traps maintained on air compression equipment for blasting method work, to prevent contaminant deposition on the roadway surface
- Burning heads not left in one place too long, to prevent pavement damage during the burn method
- Surface treatment placed at least 2 feet wide to cover the existing marking, widened to at least one lane where directional traffic changes are involved
- High-pressure water blasting used specifically for lane shift marking removal on concrete surfaces
- Approved patching materials used for any damaged-surface repairs
Pay Application Requirements for TxDOT Item 677
- Confirm width or shape on every invoice line, since the payment clause prices by type and width specifically, not a flat rate across all removal work
- Keep RPM removal costs entirely separate from Item 677 documentation, since they're paid under a different item, not this one
- Document any driver-confusion corrective action separately, since the fog seal or slurry triggered by that standard is additional treatment, not part of the original removal scope
- Track surface type per removal location, since the 1/8 inch damage repair obligation is specific to asphaltic surfaces in the spec text
Built for people pricing and executing TxDOT pavement marking removal work
Frequently asked questions about TxDOT Item 677
What is TxDOT Item 677, Eliminating Existing Pavement Markings and Markers?
It's the TxDOT spec covering removal of existing pavement markings from concrete and asphalt surfaces, using surface treatment, burn, blasting, or mechanical methods, priced by width for linear markings and by each for legends.
Is raised pavement marker removal paid under Item 677?
No, despite the item's name. RPM removal is subsidiary to other pertinent items, not a component of the Item 677 unit price.
What removal methods does TxDOT allow for pavement marking elimination?
Four: Surface Treatment, Burn, Blasting, and Mechanical. Any may be used unless the plans specify one, though Mechanical excludes grinding entirely, and excludes flail milling specifically on grooved concrete or porous asphalt.
What happens if removal damages the pavement surface?
Spalling or shelling deeper than 1/8 inch on asphaltic surfaces resulting from the removal has to be repaired, using approved patching materials.
Why would removed markings need additional treatment after they're already gone?
If the removed markings still simulate pavement markings enough to cause driver confusion, at the Engineer's determination, a fog seal or slurry at least 2 feet wide gets applied over the area as a corrective step.
Why do legend removal codes cost so much more than linear removal codes?
Legends are priced by each, not by the foot, and the removal work is shaped and labor-intensive rather than a simple linear pass. In this data, arrow and word removal average $66.50 to $72 each against $0.40 to $3.70 per foot for linear codes.
Is extra width required anywhere beyond the marking itself?
Yes, in areas involving directional traffic changes, where surface treatment, thin overlay, or microsurfacing has to cover at least one full lane width, not just the removed marking's own width.
How is Item 677 measured?
By each word, symbol, or shape eliminated, by the foot of marking eliminated, or by another unit shown on the plans. It's also a plans quantity item, paid at the proposal quantity unless modified through Article 9.2.
Are materials for the removal method priced separately?
No, materials, equipment, tools, labor, and incidentals for whichever elimination method is used are all bundled into the single unit price for the width or type removed.
Is this pricing data free to use?
Yes. Every bid item pricing page linked above is free, no account needed.