# Glow-in-the-Dark Roads Light Up Dutch Highway



## micropage7 (Apr 18, 2014)

Conceptualized by Daan Roosegaarde in collaboration with Heijmans Infrastructure, smart highways would transform them into dynamic and interactive surfaces. (Courtesy of Studio Roosegaarde)

These glow-in-the-dark road markings aren’t just pretty — they save money and energy, too.

These luminescent strips replaced streetlights on a 0.3-mile stretch of highway in the Netherlands, part of an experiment that might change the way roads are illuminated across the globe.

The roads markings, which went into effect Sunday night, might even one day be able to include temperature-sensitive paint to warn drivers of the possibility of ice.

The lights are charged up by the sun throughout the day and then last up to eight hours — long enough to get through most of or all the way through the night. But the real test is whether the paint can stand up to the wear and tear of constant traffic.





Conceptualized by Daan Roosegaarde in collaboration with Heijmans Infrastructure, smart highways would transforming them into dynamic and interactive surfaces. (Courtesy of Studio Roosegaarde)

The team developed a photo-luminescent powder that, when mixed with road paint, can glow in the dark for up to 10 hours after charging up from the daytime sunlight. The paint was placed on a 0.3-mile stretch of highway N329, about 62 miles southeast of Amsterdam in the city of Oss. Studio Roosegaarde also aimed to add glowing weather symbols that would activate when the symbol’s corresponding weather conditions took place; for example, snowflake glyphs would appear on the road to indicate that the road is slippery and caution is advised. However, for now, only the glowing street lines have been implemented.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that, back in 2011, England’s Highway Agency shut off a significant amount of the country’s streetlights overnight in order to meet a carbon emissions goal. The mass turn-off ended up saving the agency about $668,000 (or £400,000). Another of the country’s councils estimated that setting one-third of England’s streetlights to either turn off during a certain period of time, or allowing them to be dimmed, would save around $1,337,000 (or £800,000) per year.

Anyone who had their own room in middle school knows from the staggering amount of glowing stars they pasted onto their ceiling that glow-in-the-dark fixtures don’t illuminate their surroundings. They light up themselves, but nothing around it. However, Roosegaarde said the team managed to get the paint to glow so bright that it seems radioactive — definitely a better level of brightness than the glowing stars you stuck to your ceiling fan before your first sleepover.

The team wants to take the glowing paint further, but so far they have not received new contracts. The paint has not yet been thoroughly tested by the rigors of time, so perhaps we’ll begin to see eerily glowing roads popping up around the world once the paint has shown to last through weather and time.


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/04/glow-in-the-dark-roads-light-up-dutch-highway/

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...eetlights-in-netherlands-to-save-money-energy


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## Nordic (Apr 18, 2014)

How does this fair in cloudy areas? I don't know much about denmark, but I think it is a relatively cloudy country by being coastal.


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## Mindweaver (Apr 18, 2014)

WOW the saving alone is pretty leet!  I can't wait for this to happen.


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## happita (Apr 18, 2014)

micropage7 said:


> The Sunday Telegraph reported that, back in 2011, England’s Highway Agency shut off a significant amount of the country’s streetlights overnight in order to meet a carbon emissions goal. The mass turn-off ended up saving the agency about $668,000 (or £400,000). Another of the country’s councils estimated that setting one-third of England’s streetlights to either turn off during a certain period of time, or allowing them to be dimmed, would save around *$1,337*,000 (or £800,000) per year.


 
Definitely a leet amount of money I'd say. I hope the ingredients that they mix in with the conventional road paint doesn't affect the environment. We don't need any extra fumes lingering in the air, bad enough we walk through tons and tons of car exhausted fumes in the city.


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## The Von Matrices (Apr 18, 2014)

The problem I see is that the glow only lasts for a eight hours after sunset.  In winter, the days are so short that rush hour starts before sunrise, so therefore at one of the highest traffic volumes of the day you would have no glow.


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## Peter1986C (Apr 18, 2014)

micropage7 said:


> These glow-in-the-dark road markings aren’t just pretty — they save money and energy, too.



Which does not help much if the speed limit is increased from 120 to 130 km/h. But I see the win here.

@The Von Matrices which means conventional lighting being in use for 4 months a year. Still a win.


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## WhiteLotus (Apr 18, 2014)

I don't understand why the roads need lighting or glow in the dark paint anyway, cars have headlights that illuminate the road before them regardless.


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## FreedomEclipse (Apr 18, 2014)

WhiteLotus said:


> I don't understand why the roads need lighting or glow in the dark paint anyway, cars have headlights that illuminate the road before them regardless.



For common sense, health & safety and road safety reasons would be my guess.

At least you would know to keep to your side of the road and not end up colliding with another car or a ditch somewhere.


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## Fourstaff (Apr 18, 2014)

I wonder how long the paint will last. Can definitely see these work in sunnier environments like California.


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## WhiteLotus (Apr 18, 2014)

FreedomEclipse said:


> For common sense, health & safety and road safety reasons would be my guess.
> 
> At least you would know to keep to your side of the road and not end up colliding with another car or a ditch somewhere.


In the scenarios where people have driven on the wrong side of the road, alcohol or selenity are the reason why. 

Again, cars headlights illuminate the roads. Why are overhead lights and glow in the dark paint needed?

I'll admit that its easier to drive on the roads with over head lights, you can see where the road is going, so less concentration is needed. Still, if you're scared to drive on an unilluminated stretch of road, then maybe you should be driving at that time of the night anyway.


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## FreedomEclipse (Apr 18, 2014)

WhiteLotus said:


> Again, cars headlights illuminate the roads. Why are overhead lights and glow in the dark paint needed?



because common sense and road safety dont need a reason - the lines are there as point of reference. But you get stupid idiot drivers even if theres markings on the road so it might not make a real difference but at least the road safety agency can cover their ass by saying they put road markings down.

Imagine a world where nobody obeyed the rules of the road let alone road safety regulations - we'd get retards doing U-turns on packed out dual carrageways/highways, people driving down the wrong side of the street. people driving against the flow of the traffic and god knows what else.

you dont need to be some sort of scientist to know that there are stupid people who shouldnt be behind the wheel of a car and it doesnt matter if their on drugs or driving under the influence. youre still gonna get people who shouldnt be behind the wheel.....


for that matter people over 70 shouldnt be driving - In the UK they get freedom passes so they can use public transport for free. old people are dangerous on the road. 

Some old folk are still good to drive though but i know quite a few oldies who can barely  see, let alone hear and somehow they think they still good to drive


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## Sasqui (Apr 18, 2014)

WhiteLotus said:


> I don't understand why the roads need lighting or glow in the dark paint anyway, cars have headlights that illuminate the road before them regardless.



You can thank retro-reflective glass beads for being able to easily see paint at night (under most conditions).  These small beads are relatively expensive and wear out over time.  This may be a superior alternative, who knows?


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## Nordic (Apr 18, 2014)

I like this idea because the highway and freeway around where I live have few if any lights and this sounds pretty cheap.


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## theonedub (Apr 18, 2014)

WhiteLotus said:


> In the scenarios where people have driven on the wrong side of the road, alcohol or selenity are the reason why.
> 
> Again, cars headlights illuminate the roads. Why are overhead lights and glow in the dark paint needed?
> 
> I'll admit that its easier to drive on the roads with over head lights, you can see where the road is going,* so less concentration is needed*. Still, if you're scared to drive on an unilluminated stretch of road, then maybe you should be driving at that time of the night anyway.



Knowing where the road is going allows you to concentrate more. You are able to scan ahead, anticipate corrections, etc rather than expending your energy trying to figure out where the heck the road is or relying on your headlights that only illuminate a fraction of the distance ahead of you versus what you have illuminated in daylight or on overhead lit roads.


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## remixedcat (Apr 18, 2014)

Not to mention the new lack of extreme light pollution that some areas have. (Mine for example is really bad they overlight stuff and it makes people not sleep good around here as well as actually being too bright that more accidents happen around the heavily lighted areas due to drivers having to squint or wear sunglasses due to the harsh transition between very dark and sudden bright as hell lights)


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## Mindweaver (Apr 18, 2014)

Do we need to worry about detours? lol


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