As I drift off to sleep, the sound of “Flight of the Valkyries” fills my head, and I imagine a sky filled with graffiti drones descending upon Interstate 5 (I-5) with their paint nozzles ready. This vision, inspired by watching “Apocalypse Now” too many times, is what I envision for the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) pilot program aimed at combating graffiti, particularly on bridges and overpasses.
In 2023, WSDOT spent $815,000 on graffiti removal, as workers dedicated more than 10,000 hours to painting over 700,000 square feet of graffiti. Despite their efforts, the agency reported that new graffiti would sometimes appear just days or hours after an area was cleaned.
To combat this problem, WSDOT built a graffiti removal drone from an Aquiline Endure model. The drone uses a spray nozzle connected to a paint supply on the ground and can be positioned anywhere the tethered hose can reach. Operators can quickly remove graffiti on tall structures like retaining walls, bridges, and overpasses. While the first drone failed during initial testing, the newest drone is now operational and being tested in Olympia and Tacoma under licensed drone operators in the Pierce County regional maintenance division.
The Washington legislature passed House Bill 1989 in 2024, providing WSDOT with $1 million to research traffic camera technology for monitoring graffiti removal. A report on the findings of the program will be submitted to the legislature in December for further evaluation. While it may be some time before this technology is potentially implemented in the long term.