Musical highways

When we hear that motorists who use our highways obey the speed limit, it is music to our ears. But did you know that there are actually some locations around the world that if you obey the speed limit, the roads will literally sing? 

Two of those locations exist right here in the United States. The first one was built in 2014 on Route 66 in New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Tijeras. 

According to an article from the Smithsonian Magazine, the New Mexico Department of Transportation created this to encourage drivers to slow down and bring a little excitement to the monotonous highway.  The music is created by rumble strips in the road that are perfectly spaced far enough apart that when a car rolls over them at just the ride speed, vibrations are created and the music is produced. Music notes are essentially vibrations in the air. The closer the grooves are, the faster the vibrations and the higher the note. 

 Vehicles must drive 45 MPH, or the music can't be heard. The song that drivers can hear  is "America the Beautiful." Check out the video:

The next location where you can hear music by following the speed limit is just outside Lancaster, Calif.  If you slow down to 55 MPH, you can hear "William Tell's Overture."

Japan has several musical roads, check out this one near Mt. Fuji.

What song would you like to hear in Kansas? 

Work Zone Wednesday: Rumble Strips

As a driver you might think of the rumble strips noisy feature of the highway, but to KDOT they are are an effective countermeasure for reducing roadway departure crashes. The noise and vibration produced by rumble strips alert drivers when they leave the highway. Rumble stripes is the term used for rumble strips painted with a retroreflective coating to increase the visibility of the pavement edge at night and during inclement weather conditions.

Research from the Federal Highway Administration shows that installing rumble strips can reduce severe crashes.

KDOT uses all types of shoulder rumble strips, depending on the need and the material. The groove pattern can be installed intermittently or continuously. The groove pattern, depth, width, shape, and spacing may also change with the road agency. Milled rumble strips are made by a machine with a rotary cutting head, which creates a smooth, uniform, and consistent groove into the pavement. 

Different dimensions of milled rumble strips provide different amounts of sound and vibration in a passenger car. The wider and deeper the rumble strip, the more sound and vibration. Cars and trucks make different sounds while driving over the strip.  It's important for KDOT to inspect the quality and construction of the rumble strips in order to create right amount of vibration and noise to do what they are intended to do, alert drivers to the fact they are no longer on the roadway.