I returned home from a trip to Asheville, NC today. Because it was a sunny day, I decided to take the scenic route through the mountains. While traveling on the Great Smoky Mountain Expressway, I noticed a series of number signs on the highway that I’ve never seen before. Every now and then, I would see a series of square, brown signs each with a single digit. They would start with 1, then 2, then 3, up to 0, then they would count back down to 1 then 0 (a total of 20 signs in a row). The signs were about 30-40 feet apart. I saw this series of 20 signs several times, but they didn’t seem to be consistently related to anything (an exit, a bridge, etc.). Anyone know what these signs are for?
This can’t be it, but: Gear-shifting signs for trucks? Or maybe gear-shift signs for bicycles if they have races through there? Total WAG.
Some casual googling (including this thread from a few years ago) shows people saying they’re set up in fog prone areas for the purposes of gauging visibility on a camera. I guess that makes some sense, but that doesn’t really explain the weird up-then-down numbering scheme or if the numbers themselves have any significance.
Was it near logging roads?
The ones that I’ve seen were at overpasses or bridges, with the numbers counting down to the center of the bridge and then back up, more or less to the end of the Armco barrier.
I think you can actually see the camera on a metal pole on the other side of the bridge there.
Thanks everyone. Fog assessment makes perfect sense, especially in this area. After all, they’re called the Smokies for a reason!
as the other thread says, that smoke is not natural in all cases. It comes from a paper factory.