Utah's BGS Material Protocol

[thenetwork]

As mentioned in another thread, I finally had a chance to visit the Salt Lake City area (and a well-populated area of Utah at that) for the 1st time in over 30 years. 

Living in a smaller town in Western Colorado, I finally got to visit an area where overhead BGSs in the Beehive State abound.  I noticed that there is a mish-mash of overhead individual signage that is metal, and quite a bit is wood -- like a lot of their ground-mounted BGS and smaller companions.

What determines installing wood vs metal BGS signage in Utah, and how do they stack up against each other when it comes to overall durability and cost?  Is/was UDOT migrating toward one material over the other? 

I know that BGS styles vary by region in Utah as far as the signage goes (Exit Tabs/Full horizontal tabs, SR shield designs, Neutered vs. State-Named I-Shields, etc...), but I never recall seeing a state so varied on sign-backing material.

[US 89]

As mentioned in another thread, I finally had a chance to visit the Salt Lake City area (and a well-populated area of Utah at that) for the 1st time in over 30 years. 

Living in a smaller town in Western Colorado, I finally got to visit an area where overhead BGSs in the Beehive State abound.  I noticed that there is a mish-mash of overhead individual signage that is metal, and quite a bit is wood -- like a lot of their ground-mounted BGS and smaller companions.

What determines installing wood vs metal BGS signage in Utah, and how do they stack up against each other when it comes to overall durability and cost?  Is/was UDOT migrating toward one material over the other? 

I know that BGS styles vary by region in Utah as far as the signage goes (Exit Tabs/Full horizontal tabs, SR shield designs, Neutered vs. State-Named I-Shields, etc...), but I never recall seeing a state so varied on sign-backing material.

I haven't seen UDOT install a wood BGS in more than 10 years. I'm guessing the metal lasts longer, since I can think of plenty of wood signs (15 years old) that are peeling away. The wood BGSs that you see in/near downtown SLC were installed in 2001 as part of the Olympic reconstruction project of I-15.

Also, most (if not all) Interstate shields installed since around 2013 include the state name. The different SR shield designs and exit tabs are a combination of changing UDOT specifications and contractor errors.