PennDOT White Lines Could Circle the World 5 Times – And Other Amazing Facts

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has done what large agencies do from time to time when they are awed by their own statistics. They’ve issued a press release.

This one may not be original, but it’s fun.
According to PennDOT, highway workers have begun applying more than 1.8 million gallons of yellow and white traffic line paint to highways. PennDOT claims 1.8 million gallons of paint is approximately enough to fill 435 four foot deep, 12 foot diameter, above ground swimming pools.
By the time the job is done in October, PennDOT crews will have painted more than 122,000 miles of lines, enough to circle the globe nearly five times.
PennDOT line-painting crews use sophisticated equipment that heats the paint to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit and then sprays the material on the road. While the paint is still wet, beads made of recycled glass are automatically applied to provide reflectivity. The department estimates it will use approximately 12 million pounds of glass beads for line painting this year.
On interstate and other limited access highways the center or skip line is six inches wide, while on other state highways the edge line as well as the center line is four inches wide.
Line painting costs PennDOT about $16.5 million per year including paint, glass beads, equipment and personnel or about 2.5 cents per linear foot. PennDOT has 21 line painting crews working statewide.