Elbert Dysart Botts
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Dr. Elbert Dysart Botts (1893-1962) was the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) engineer credited with overseeing the research that led to the development of Botts' dots and the epoxy used to attach them to the road.
Botts was born in Missouri in 1893 and was an assistant chemistry professor at San Jose State College when he was recruited to Caltrans. He is credited with leading the division of the Caltrans research laboratory (Translab) that conducted the initial research into identifying the best shapes and materials for raised pavement markers. Much of the necessary field research was conducted by his team on a new freeway in West Sacramento in the spring of 1955. Although the initial goal was to improve lane visibility, it was at this point that the tactile feedback provided by the dots was discovered.
The initial dots were made out of glass and were attached by nails or tacks to the road, as suggested by Botts. The nails were soon abandoned; his team discovered that when the dots eventually popped out under stress, the nails would puncture tires. Contrary to a common myth, the published record does not make clear whether Botts invented the famous epoxy that solved the problem; some sources indicate that one of his proteges was responsible for the epoxy.
Botts never lived to see the success of his research. He died in April of 1962 and his work on the dots was filed away; it was not even mentioned in his obituary in Translab's internal newsletter. Two years later, his research was rediscovered when his division (now under the direction of Herbert Rooney) decided to conduct further research into raised pavement markers. At this time, Translab developed the modern pattern of interspersing plastic square reflectors between groups of four round polyester or epoxy dots. This pattern was first tested along Interstate 80 near Vacaville in 1965. To minimize the risk that dots would become coated with rubber scraped off tires, Translab switched to clay round markers in 1966.
