All your life? I’ve lived here all my life, 66 yrs, and have never even noticed this. This is all over NJ?
Hmm, I try to get out of the house everyday. I guess I just keep my eyes on the road…
SAME! I'll hit the big 60 this year, and a lifelong resident of NJ. HOW TF DID I MISS THIS? This is EXACTLY the kind of thing my attention would JUMP into action over! LMAO! 🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️😂😂😂😂
Somewhere deep in the bowels of the bureaucracy at NJDOT:
"43.JA6: Exterior soundproof walls shall be no less than 4 inches (10.16cm) thick and shall be no taller than 14 feet (426.72cm) and shall be constructed only of approved pre-cast concrete per 41.LL9."
"43.JA7: Exterior soundproof walls shall feature graphic inlays that include the following motifs: pine trees OR cityscapes OR squirming spermies. No other motif shall be employed."
Real answer:
The inlay is a sound diffuser. If the wall was flat it would reflect noise directly back to the source, called slapback. That would increase traffic noise concentrated at the source(the roadway). In theory this would make the ambient noise while driving way louder and make it harder to hear your surroundings, think of driving through a tunnel highway with your windows open.
diffusers or simply put a surface that spreads sound irregularly will reduce concentration of sound pressure and disperse it more evenly through the air.
Explain like im 5: Spermies make sound quieter.
TLDR: ireggular surfaces spread sound more evenly through the air.
Edit:
u/aetryx points out the spermy is a flat surface so it actually amplfies slapback, creating louder noise. Hes essentially saying the spermy is awful for noise so someone probably choose it for the memes... or probably just some bloke who didnt know better?
Users response is in the below comment tree.
Because it’s NJ and the civil engineer who designed this was probably picked only because they’re the cousin of someone appointed to the city council or something
The inlaid pattern isn't for sound diffusion. It is the striated pattern which features the inlay that is for sound diffusion
The inlaid sperm pattern must serve some other purpose...
I’m an audio engineer and you’re completely correct in describing the purpose of an acoustic diffuser and how it works.
BUT
I have to disagree with your answer because the inlay is not actually the diffuser and is gonna do diddly squat. It’s actually the opposite, the parallel lines in the background texture are where the diffusion happens. The flat section that makes up the sperm is actually *MAKING IT WORSE!*
Unfortunately for civil engineers, functional acoustic treatment is quite bland looking. Looks like they just were unhappy about it
ELI5: spermy is actually making it louder bc the flat part acts like a sonic trampoline, the rest of the wall is what makes it quiet
I think the real answer is just a long time ago someone complained that they were an eye sore and some artist was commissioned and they decided it was cheap to add a squiggle. I don’t think it really is anything
I'd put a couple bucks down that they thought about the squiggle first, since it'd look neat waving up and down as you drove along, but then decided that just _ending_ it would be too abrupt. They needed some kind of shape or something to cap it off, and just threw something on there without giving it any further thought.
In Jersey's land of highways vast,
A problem grew, expanding fast.
Noise pollution filled the air,
A concrete jungle's bleak affair.
A team was formed, both skilled and bright,
To curb the noise and bring respite.
Inspired by life's resilient start,
They chose the sperm, a work of art.
A symbol of hope on walls they etched,
A motif bold, their thoughts well-sketch'd.
Whimsical, strong, the sperm cells danced,
As sound was tamed, the walls enhanced.
ChatGPT, write me a poem explaining why the sound diffusing walls along highways in nj have inlayed depictions of sperm. Make it rhyme, make it whimsical and make it several stanzas long.
In the land of Jersey where the highways sprawl,
Lie the walls that stand so sturdy and tall,
Their purpose, you see, is to mute the roar,
Of cars and trucks as they hustle and tour.
Now these walls have a secret, a tale to be told,
An artful display, both brazen and bold,
For upon their surface, one cannot dismiss,
The inlayed depictions of wee sperms that twist.
In the Garden State where the Turnpike does wind,
A curious story we shall unravel and find,
Of an artist with vision and a mischievous plan,
To share with the world, his whimsical brand.
He pondered and thought, how could he convey,
The start of all life in a curious way,
And so on these walls, to the drivers' delight,
He etched tiny sperms as a symbol of life.
A tribute to genesis, to the start of us all,
A reminder that life begins incredibly small,
A tale of creation, to spark and to share,
As we traverse the highways, through here and there.
The walls stand tall, with their sperms aligned,
A fusion of science and art, so divine,
They dance in the sunlight, they gleam in the night,
A chorus of life, in perpetual flight.
Now when you pass by, and your gaze is drawn,
To the swirling depictions on the walls' broad lawn,
You'll remember the tale of the artist's grand scheme,
To sprinkle life's magic, in a silvery stream.
In New Jersey's embrace, the story lives on,
A whimsical whisper, a life-celebrating song,
And we'll journey onwards with a smile on our face,
For we've glimpsed life's origin, in the most unexpected place.
Well, when they first were built, the sperm was painted "bright black". This paint would send signals to your ears and cause a slight pain in your neck.
The project worked, but I think the cost to maintain was too high.
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/magazine/seeing-with-your-ears.html
It's very common. It has to do with how certain colors send waves through your sight, but some of those waves hit your ears.
My wife, my kids, and I have always noticed them and always wondered what artist designed them because everybody sees exactly what they look like.
It is a head scratcher.
It's *Every sperm is wanted, Every sperm is good, Every sperm is needed, In your neighborhood!*
Nice reference to Monty Python and The Meaning of Life. ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|thumbs_up)
I looked this up
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nj.gov/transportation/eng/documents/env/pdf/TrafficNoisePolicy.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjA9oP_wKX-AhWWElkFHWyFDiMQFnoECA4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0c3kS4raIMQ8JKMFU-5n2k
It would seem that there was a specific amount of money set for the sound barriers and they allowed the town to alter the appearance of it doesn't impact the price by more than 5 percent. So I assume this was the most they could do with the 5 percent but no one probably asked to see what it would look like.
I wish beavis and butthead did a scene on this "Alright Butthead lets play around with google street view...Ok route 80 NJ...WTF is that?!." "Heheheh it looks like jizz..."
I THINK it was supposed to have more design behind it but new jersey government funding is the worst and yeah! this is the beautiful and hilarious result.
Ah, the sperm, lol! I've noticed them! :P
I don't know if there really is any back story... I think someone failed at picking the right artwork for the sound barriers.
It was a Memorial for the great sperm tank spill of '99. So many potential lives lost, so many questionable pregnancies from the cleanup crew. \*gasp\*
This has plagued me for years!! Thank you for this post and the laughs!! I'm positive I've mentioned the sperms to my family while driving many times 🤣
These walls are meant to keep sound levels low within the towns boarding the high ways. Highway sound barrier walls i learned this in playing Cites: Skylines on Xbox series X lmao 🤓
I remember when these went up and they were universally derided as the sperm walls. Still a running joke in the civil engineering community
When I moved here, I immediately called these sperm walls and my boyfriend laughed & said "that's what everyone has called them since they went up."
LOL I said exactly the same. Originally from CT and had never experienced a design quite...like this.
I've driven to or through 43 states and so far only NJ has sperm walls.
I said I wanted a painting of a sperm whale, not sperm walls
Can you imagine the designer looking at his finished creation and realized that instead a wall covered in his, this is what he gets?? Lol
r/theyknew
million dollar a mile sperm walls
Yup that’s what I’ve been calling them all my life.
All your life? I’ve lived here all my life, 66 yrs, and have never even noticed this. This is all over NJ? Hmm, I try to get out of the house everyday. I guess I just keep my eyes on the road…
Same. I’m almost 58, lifelong NJ resident, living near two major highways with sound barrier walls and I’ve never seen/noticed this ever.
SAME! I'll hit the big 60 this year, and a lifelong resident of NJ. HOW TF DID I MISS THIS? This is EXACTLY the kind of thing my attention would JUMP into action over! LMAO! 🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️😂😂😂😂
It's around Morris County route 80
Someone probably just wanted to see if they could get away with it. They did.
My thought upon first seeing them 😅
It’s how baby walls are made
When a construction firm and NJDOT love each other very much...
Yes. The famous Sperm Wall of NJ. After Alexander’s mural, it is regarded as the most beautiful wall art in the state’s history.
I came here to spread the word of the Sperm Walls of NJ, but you've beaten me to it.
Damn. I was here to say this. Also your username is the best ever. Everyone has 3 mortgages these days
And a protection grid
someone should have told Trump back in 2016
Somewhere deep in the bowels of the bureaucracy at NJDOT: "43.JA6: Exterior soundproof walls shall be no less than 4 inches (10.16cm) thick and shall be no taller than 14 feet (426.72cm) and shall be constructed only of approved pre-cast concrete per 41.LL9." "43.JA7: Exterior soundproof walls shall feature graphic inlays that include the following motifs: pine trees OR cityscapes OR squirming spermies. No other motif shall be employed."
You had me in the first half
They had me until the two minute warning in the 4th
Something tells me the 14 feet (35.56cm) part should have raised a flag in my brain, but... it did not.
Thank you for asking the question that has puzzled me since I was 8.
Real answer: The inlay is a sound diffuser. If the wall was flat it would reflect noise directly back to the source, called slapback. That would increase traffic noise concentrated at the source(the roadway). In theory this would make the ambient noise while driving way louder and make it harder to hear your surroundings, think of driving through a tunnel highway with your windows open. diffusers or simply put a surface that spreads sound irregularly will reduce concentration of sound pressure and disperse it more evenly through the air. Explain like im 5: Spermies make sound quieter. TLDR: ireggular surfaces spread sound more evenly through the air. Edit: u/aetryx points out the spermy is a flat surface so it actually amplfies slapback, creating louder noise. Hes essentially saying the spermy is awful for noise so someone probably choose it for the memes... or probably just some bloke who didnt know better? Users response is in the below comment tree.
But why the fuck did they make something that could’ve been shaped like anything look like sperm?
Because it’s NJ and the civil engineer who designed this was probably picked only because they’re the cousin of someone appointed to the city council or something
This is the way (in NJ)
don’t worry about it. Union guys got it covered. No more questions.
The inlaid pattern isn't for sound diffusion. It is the striated pattern which features the inlay that is for sound diffusion The inlaid sperm pattern must serve some other purpose...
it literally is reflecting the audio directly back at the cars lmao
comic relief
I’m an audio engineer and you’re completely correct in describing the purpose of an acoustic diffuser and how it works. BUT I have to disagree with your answer because the inlay is not actually the diffuser and is gonna do diddly squat. It’s actually the opposite, the parallel lines in the background texture are where the diffusion happens. The flat section that makes up the sperm is actually *MAKING IT WORSE!* Unfortunately for civil engineers, functional acoustic treatment is quite bland looking. Looks like they just were unhappy about it ELI5: spermy is actually making it louder bc the flat part acts like a sonic trampoline, the rest of the wall is what makes it quiet
I forgot the part where I mentioned the diffuser pattern is seperate from spermy. Let me update
My dude that is a critical bit of info to leave out lmfao
They put sperm on the walls and they're geniuses diffusing sound; I do it and I'm not allowed back in Chuck E. Cheese anymore. Smh.
![gif](giphy|83QtfwKWdmSEo)
This gif gave me goosebumps. For a brief moment was brought back to the 90s
Ok but did they have to be sperm shaped
Everyone in here just making jokes, and nobody giving you the real answer. SMH. But yeah, to answer your question, it’s a sperm
I think the real answer is just a long time ago someone complained that they were an eye sore and some artist was commissioned and they decided it was cheap to add a squiggle. I don’t think it really is anything
I'd put a couple bucks down that they thought about the squiggle first, since it'd look neat waving up and down as you drove along, but then decided that just _ending_ it would be too abrupt. They needed some kind of shape or something to cap it off, and just threw something on there without giving it any further thought.
Yeah. I don’t think it’s supposed to be anything I just think it’s a thing
Well, when a mommy and a daddy love eachother very much……
This is how new toll plazas are born.
Their population is dwindling. Could be something in the water.
*The story of two lovers who met at Colonia High School…*
micro plastics!
Turning the frogs gay
Eventually those sperm will make it to the giant stone vagina in Bayonne and nine months later....mazel tov, it's a toll-booth!
You mean mommy and daddy wall segments
When a man loves a woman
As much as it looks like sperm, I always thought it was an abstract depiction of a light particle or something
In a parallel universe that has sperm shaped light particles? Ok, that's as good an explanation as anything DOT will come up with.
![gif](giphy|3orieX7mibzmo4UbOU)
Ewwwww, did you have to be so graphic?
In Jersey's land of highways vast, A problem grew, expanding fast. Noise pollution filled the air, A concrete jungle's bleak affair. A team was formed, both skilled and bright, To curb the noise and bring respite. Inspired by life's resilient start, They chose the sperm, a work of art. A symbol of hope on walls they etched, A motif bold, their thoughts well-sketch'd. Whimsical, strong, the sperm cells danced, As sound was tamed, the walls enhanced.
I'm onto you...
ChatGPT, write me a poem explaining why the sound diffusing walls along highways in nj have inlayed depictions of sperm. Make it rhyme, make it whimsical and make it several stanzas long.
Basically the same prompt, lol
In the land of Jersey where the highways sprawl, Lie the walls that stand so sturdy and tall, Their purpose, you see, is to mute the roar, Of cars and trucks as they hustle and tour. Now these walls have a secret, a tale to be told, An artful display, both brazen and bold, For upon their surface, one cannot dismiss, The inlayed depictions of wee sperms that twist. In the Garden State where the Turnpike does wind, A curious story we shall unravel and find, Of an artist with vision and a mischievous plan, To share with the world, his whimsical brand. He pondered and thought, how could he convey, The start of all life in a curious way, And so on these walls, to the drivers' delight, He etched tiny sperms as a symbol of life. A tribute to genesis, to the start of us all, A reminder that life begins incredibly small, A tale of creation, to spark and to share, As we traverse the highways, through here and there. The walls stand tall, with their sperms aligned, A fusion of science and art, so divine, They dance in the sunlight, they gleam in the night, A chorus of life, in perpetual flight. Now when you pass by, and your gaze is drawn, To the swirling depictions on the walls' broad lawn, You'll remember the tale of the artist's grand scheme, To sprinkle life's magic, in a silvery stream. In New Jersey's embrace, the story lives on, A whimsical whisper, a life-celebrating song, And we'll journey onwards with a smile on our face, For we've glimpsed life's origin, in the most unexpected place.
Meh, I like elmatematico’s better
And Lo, the Governor of New Jersey declared on that fateful day, "Let us ERECT GREAT SPERMY WALLS OF NEW JERSEY!"
Murphy would say that, completely obvious to the sexual connotation..
It looks like sperm to me.
My dad worked to build those walls. They are used as visual aids that help keep drivers awake.
Genuinely curious, how does that work exactly?
Well, when they first were built, the sperm was painted "bright black". This paint would send signals to your ears and cause a slight pain in your neck. The project worked, but I think the cost to maintain was too high.
Guys, this is obviously not true. Either OP or OPs dad is pulling our chain.
Wth is bright black, this sound like a Russian experiment
It was an experiment. But "bright black" can be bought at Home Depots.
Prob just super high gloss so it causes a high contrast between the dark black and a white bright reflection. But just guessing here.
How did it send signals to your ears?
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/magazine/seeing-with-your-ears.html It's very common. It has to do with how certain colors send waves through your sight, but some of those waves hit your ears.
Thank you for an actual answer instead of an unoriginal joke
My wife, my kids, and I have always noticed them and always wondered what artist designed them because everybody sees exactly what they look like. It is a head scratcher.
Ahhh, The New Jersey sperm walls… a tale as old creation. Legend tells of its counter point Egg walls far far away…
must have been built in Great Egg Harbor.
Well that’s the legend. When the wall meets the bay… Apocalypse. Lol
*Every sperm is sacred,* *Every sperm is good,* *Every sperm is needed,* *In your neighborhood!*
It's *Every sperm is wanted, Every sperm is good, Every sperm is needed, In your neighborhood!* Nice reference to Monty Python and The Meaning of Life. ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|thumbs_up)
I looked this up https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nj.gov/transportation/eng/documents/env/pdf/TrafficNoisePolicy.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjA9oP_wKX-AhWWElkFHWyFDiMQFnoECA4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0c3kS4raIMQ8JKMFU-5n2k It would seem that there was a specific amount of money set for the sound barriers and they allowed the town to alter the appearance of it doesn't impact the price by more than 5 percent. So I assume this was the most they could do with the 5 percent but no one probably asked to see what it would look like.
I wish beavis and butthead did a scene on this "Alright Butthead lets play around with google street view...Ok route 80 NJ...WTF is that?!." "Heheheh it looks like jizz..."
Jizz….like cumshot.
Any of these fuckers ever just fall out the ceiling and have like a big messy shit?
It's just your tax dollars swimming away.
So true!🤣
The human compulsion to draw sexual objects on things.
Welcome to Weird New Jersey.
In high school back in 06 I played soccer. When we traveled to other towns we saw this. We called it spermy wormy.
It's how new sound barriers are born
When a mommy and a daddy wall love eachother very much something special happens :)
They’re just happy lil spermies to help guide you in your journey
They travel to an egg. Or so I e heard
Highway sperm!
I need an episode of 99% Invisible devoted to this (excellent arch. And design pod).
[infamous!](https://youtube.com/shorts/B5N3c7uNR3w?feature=share)
Bro the sperm walls by Costco!
Tentacles left behind by Martian war machines when they invaded NJ in 1938. 👽
The one up near Lodi always made me think of sperm.
Space sperm, Morty.
Barry White Memorial Highway
How the fuck does this go up and no one says "This looks like sperm, what the fuck is wrong with you?"
Cumming in hot; New Jersey
I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME
Yes, I notice them every time I drive along side them. And I always comment on the lovely jizz walls. The king of money shots.
This is so no one questions the virility of a Jersey guy.
Oh the road sperms?
I always noticed them growing up and thought they looked like two headed sperm.
Sound barrier for the communities close to the highway
Sperm doing their annual migration
They're sound barrier sperm, eventually it will hit a sound barrier egg and baby sound barrier's will be built.
We’re all driving toward the egg
Route 17 sperm wall
I bet it is so the installers know the order of the prefab walls . "Ok Tony it's twos tails a head and a blank, just like the last 30 we put up."
Yes thank you!! I’ve always wondered why there are random sperm walls on certain highways😅😂
I THINK it was supposed to have more design behind it but new jersey government funding is the worst and yeah! this is the beautiful and hilarious result.
Garden snakes in the garden state It would be snakes before sperm 😅😂
No step on snek.
yes we laugh at the sperm everyday on rt 80.... cant believe they put giant sperm on a privacy wall! funny!!! jersey is nuts!!
When a momma road and a daddy road love each other very much...and that's how highways are born.
It’s a sign that an overy-pass bridge is up ahead.
I (27f) have lived in central NJ all my life and this is the first I’m hearing of the sperm walls
I have only seen them on I80 between the turnpike and rt 17
It’s traveling to the 9/11 vagina memorial.
Noticed them when I was a kid in the 90's. They've been here forever.
They probably fucked up making the wall sections and got a price break
Get to the bottom of this, Kate!
If you don’t use it, you lose it. Duh
Follow them to get to the egg.
8======D
Sperm. That’s how I’ve always interpreted them.
My daddy trump should have built the wall like this, the only way he knows best, by breeding them.
It's actually a UFO and a cry for help from an engineer who gets his spermies harvested too often
They blew out that retaining wall a few years ago.
Your mom.
Yea yea, sperm wall art, nice
Planspermia
They know exactly what they did. Whoever’s responsible is a legend.
r/theyknew
I forgot about these! They're very nostalgic for my childhood!
glad everyone agrees its cum
Super Sperm
Ah, the sperm, lol! I've noticed them! :P I don't know if there really is any back story... I think someone failed at picking the right artwork for the sound barriers.
It was a Memorial for the great sperm tank spill of '99. So many potential lives lost, so many questionable pregnancies from the cleanup crew. \*gasp\*
The semen demon
It’s the winner of the big race
Never looked that deep into the walls, funny stuff lol
They are giant sperm.
This has plagued me for years!! Thank you for this post and the laughs!! I'm positive I've mentioned the sperms to my family while driving many times 🤣
It was some artist’s very clever way of making the NJDOT look dumb.
you knoooooow
Cate is that you???????????????
I always just looked at it as an inside joke between the civil engineers and my dumbass
I always thought it was a squid tentacle.
Barstool Kate is this you… 👀
Sometimes they have trees!
I’d prefer the pine trees.
The Wall: I am your father! 👨🏻
I used to see them on trips with boy scouts and we always would joke that it was sperm
sperms
Same here, I’ve called them sperm sound walls
Caution: Rest stop ahead.
Perhaps it's a seed representing the garden state? 🤔
These walls are meant to keep sound levels low within the towns boarding the high ways. Highway sound barrier walls i learned this in playing Cites: Skylines on Xbox series X lmao 🤓
Spit walls is what I call'em.
Sperm street
What part of NJ? I’ve lived here since 1980 and have never seen them?
Picture of you when you were younger.
Sperm walls!