Road Cone Math

In Upstate New York there is an upstanding joke that our seasons are Cold, Effin' Cold, Tolerable and Roadwork.  With the recent screw up to our Daylight Savings Time our seasons have apparently gotten themselves mixed up as well.  Normally it is throughout our Summer that the roadwork signs appear and our daily travels are interrupted.  For whatever reason, the roadwork cones are out in full force now and we're well into the start of Fall.  I say the roadwork cones are out as opposed to crews because it's rare you see a worker, however someone put them there so I guess that counts for something.

At any rate, my daily commute is about 40 miles (give or take) and as of recently, 30 miles of it has been invaded by road cones.  With these new invaders, I now have an extra allotment of time to think on my way to work (a novel concept: thinking while driving... something else to outlaw.)  I believe I have recently identified a new (and useful!) mathematical scenario.  I'll call it Road Cone Math.  In my studies I have found that for every so many miles of road cones, spaced every six feet, there are a certain number of workers.  It's a ratio really.  Along my daily commute the ratio is five miles of cones to every two workers (one "working," one "spotter.")  And, in referencing the "miles to feet conversion chart" that comes out to approximately 880 cones per five mile stretch.  Now, seeing as how I endure 30 miles of cones it boils down to 4400 cones for 12 workers.  It's absolutely amazing!  

Now the HR/Payroll geek in me would be interested to see how these ratios fluctuate across counties or even states because I'm sure other variables come in to play such as Union Agreements.  Hmmm, the fun we could have with Road Cone Math, eh?