have the skills to pave roads been lost?

[Jeff7]

AFAIC, concrete makes a terrible road. It's noisy, and the sections heave over time making it bumpy as hell. Tha thunk, tha thunk, tha thunk... It also gets tire busting holes with sharp sides. Asphalt gets "smoother" holes.

Except when it doesn't.

I was driving home once on a rainy night and took a slightly different route.
A deep pothole, which of course looked like an ordinary puddle, damaged both wheels on the right side. Instant flat on the front, slow hiss on the back.
Luckily it didn't damage the suspension, but it still wasn't terribly cheap to replace them.


But hey, you've got to keep it cheap, and keep the local workers employed year after year. We don't want anyone thinking the government can do anything competently. Perceived competence leads to more work.

 

[Mixolydian]

it's all about money - who can do the job for the least amount of money.

 

[lxskllr]

Except when it doesn't.

I was driving home once on a rainy night and took a slightly different route.
A deep pothole, which of course looked like an ordinary puddle, damaged both wheels on the right side. Instant flat on the front, slow hiss on the back.
Luckily it didn't damage the suspension, but it still wasn't terribly cheap to replace them.


But hey, you've got to keep it cheap, and keep the local workers employed year after year. We don't want anyone thinking the government can do anything competently. Perceived competence leads to more work.

There's always exceptions. This past winter raped our roads, and there was one huge pothole I hit. I was in a full sized truck. I think it would have trashed a normal small car.

The main road I take to work needs to be completely redone. Stripped down to stone(or farther), and repaved. The shoulders are falling off the road :^S

A project I just started is a half mile of noisewall blocking sound from the highway for... a handful of houses, and farm fields. Seems like there's a better place to spend that money. Roads need to be fixed all over, and that would benefit more people than that noisewall will.

 

[Imp]

A project I just started is a half mile of noisewall blocking sound from the highway for... a handful of houses, and farm fields. Seems like there's a better place to spend that money. Roads need to be fixed all over, and that would benefit more people than that noisewall will.

Probably easier to ignore someone saying there's a pothole somewhere or my ass is vibrating than "your highway is killing my property value and home life".

 

[Jeff7]

Probably easier to ignore someone saying there's a pothole somewhere or my ass is vibrating than "your highway is killing my property value and home life".

Or "A local politician lives there and wants something done about it."

Or "causing incremental damage to every vehicle that hits it, thus putting a drain on the local economy."

There's always exceptions. This past winter raped our roads, and there was one huge pothole I hit. I was in a full sized truck. I think it would have trashed a normal small car.

The main road I take to work needs to be completely redone. Stripped down to stone(or farther), and repaved. The shoulders are falling off the road :^S

A project I just started is a half mile of noisewall blocking sound from the highway for... a handful of houses, and farm fields. Seems like there's a better place to spend that money. Roads need to be fixed all over, and that would benefit more people than that noisewall will.

So much of the work I see is just either little patches or else a thin veneer of asphalt that crumbles away under anything more than the weight of a goose.
I went back to look at the pothole that wrecked my wheels, and you could see all the layers of previous roadway and foundation. That thing was several inches deep. It gradually narrowed, so that and my speed kept the tire from going all the way to the bottom.

 

[Imp]

Or "A local politician lives there and wants something done about it."

Or "causing incremental damage to every vehicle that hits it, thus putting a drain on the local economy."

You mean it stimulates the local economy...

Every flat tire is a tow truck fare and a mechanic's paycheck.

 

[Jeff7]

You mean it stimulates the local economy...

Every flat tire is a tow truck fare and a mechanic's paycheck.

One man's stimulation is another......you know what, this probably won't sound right.

 

[lxskllr]

So much of the work I see is just either little patches or else a thin veneer of asphalt that crumbles away under anything more than the weight of a goose.
I went back to look at the pothole that wrecked my wheels, and you could see all the layers of previous roadway and foundation. That thing was several inches deep. It gradually narrowed, so that and my speed kept the tire from going all the way to the bottom.

I finished a job last year replacing bridge decks. They kept the steel and structures. They were in /ok/ shape. Not terrible, but not great either. Seemed like a foolish way to spend money to me. Redoing the structures would have been significantly more expensive, but it would have been done then. Redecking a bridge isn't trivial work, so it's a lot of money to get the same old bridge when it's finished.

I've also seen some nice(sincerely) road patch jobs. Problem is, they were done in patches. A long stretch of new surface, ~500' of old pavement(no deep holes, but significant cracks), then another long stretch of new surface. It should have all been done while the equipment was there. That's a foolish way to save pennies.

 

[Meghan54]

Mr Dangler have you ever seen a concrete driveway in Mass that's not tiny?

Maybe he hasn't, but they're all over the place. Been to the Cape lately?

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6706726,-69.9851654,282m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
(The white patches.....all concrete. Scroll around, you'll easily see large driveways.)

They're all over on the Cape, but then again, so is the money. I know asphalt is used everywhere....cheaper, easier to fix after winter, etc., but to say no concrete is used in driveway or road construction in Mass. or anywhere else in the Northeast is ludicrous at best.

 

[akugami]

It is being paved by the lowest bidder.

This.

I was actually pissed they paved the road outside my house a few years back. The road is WORSE than before they paved it. A few months after they paved the road, they had to come back and fix patches of it cause of potholes and you could see loose gravel months after the pave job. Now after 3 winters and much snow...the road is a mess. Think the road was in better condition before the pave job.

 

[Ichinisan]

Let's go lay some pavement together.

 

[Mixolydian]

Let's go lay some pavement together.

:sneaky:

 

[MustISO]

I notice it all the time around here. Not sure who they're hiring but I guarantee they are wasting a ton of money and doing a shit job. Road projects seem to take forever and when it's done it's pretty bad. One of my favorite sightings is when they come to fill potholes on a street, do 3 or 4 and leave the other 20 nearby untouched. So inefficient.

 

[OverVolt]

You mean it stimulates the local economy...

Every flat tire is a tow truck fare and a mechanic's paycheck.

Nah, it damages wealth.

 

[SKORPI0]

Same here on a major highway (LaGrange Road). For the last few years road is being widened, 2 to 3 lanes each side. Pored concrete makes this awful noise when driven on, uneven/not level.
2 dips on 2 intersections going southward. some patches with asphalt in sections.

I just wonder who the road contractor is.