Grandpa, tell me bout the good ole days............

[2LaneCruzer]

Na, we had all that good oil from Ft. Edward with all the PCB's in it from the transformers.

I think that happened a lot. It was also a good way to get rid of old motor oil and other undesirable stuff. We had a facility here in OKC that "re refined" used oil...it eventually became a Superfund site. The contaminants included a little bit of everything, including PCB's.

DOUBLE EAGLE REFINERY CO. | Superfund Site Profile | Superfund Site Information | US EPA

 

[Oaktree]

Prbably gravel roads that would get oiled to keep dust down going by residences. Common out here and usually has to be done by the resident. Dad used to contract it in Orofino, Idaho in the 50s. Got the used oild from service stations, etc.

Pretty much same as driveway sealer. Signs are to warn girlymen who cry when oil get on der car paint.
Sanded oil is when chain gang come along behind hot oil truck and spreads sand on top of hot oil. Supposed to stick sand to road so oil not roll up on tires. Works sometimes.

These were paved state/federal highways, not dirt roads. I just asked because whenever they oiled/sanded the road it must have been quite a while before since there was no evidence of anything having been spread recently...just looked like any other paved road. Maybe no one ever got around to taking down the signs.

I figured it had to be something to freshen/prolong the life of the asphalt, but it's not something I've ever seen done around here.

Even today they treat gravel roads but now use diluted wood resin as it is environmentally safe.
Some use calcium chloride as it draws moisture keeping the dust down however disallowed near lakes/rivers.

Calcium chloride is what I remember being used when I was growing up, sometimes they'd just spray water. I think they might have used river water, because sometimes it smelled really swampy.
Don't ever remember seeing oil used on roads, though some farmers would pour used motor oil along fence lines to keep the weeds down. I guess nobody really thought about how bad it was. I was guilty of that too when I still lived in an apartment...I'd go to some gravel pit or someplace similar and just let the oil drain on the ground when I'd do an oil change in my car. :embarrassed: Hopefully, the statute of limitations is up.

I think that happened a lot. It was also a good way to get rid of old motor oil and other undesirable stuff. We had a facility here in OKC that "re refined" used oil...it eventually became a Superfund site. The contaminants included a little bit of everything, including PCB's.

I can only imagine what's getting in the air even now from people who use waste oil furnaces to heat shops, etc.

 

[Oaktree]

The county where I live started having roads that are pretty broken up and rough torn out down to the base material, part of the old asphalt is ground up and laid down as a new base, then a 2" or 3" layer of new asphalt laid down.
I think they finally realized that paving over cracks, even if they milled off a few inches first of the old stuff first, doesn't last long.
It'll be interesting to see how the new roads holds up.
Living in an area that has several freeze/thaw cycles every year makes you understand why roads go to pot so quickly up here.

That's pretty common around here too. Generally lasts a couple years, then just as bad as it was before. Of course many/most of these roads were just old wagon trails dating back to the 1800s (or further), and were never built with a good base. Probably more cost effective to just re-pave every 4-5 years than to entirely rebuild the road right, especially on lesser-traveled rural roads that are low on the state's priority list.
Then there are the times culverts are replaced, but the fill is never tamped properly so every winter/spring they become inverted speed bumps. :irked:

 

[Oldpath05]

If someone could invent a hot top material that wont crack all up, flexes with freeze and thaw, gas would be lot cheaper here, down side is they'd be lot less jobs. Seem so when I went south 10-15 years ago to VA and out to MO there was concrete roads but not sure, sometimes my memory plays tricks on me...

 

[2LaneCruzer]

These were paved state/federal highways, not dirt roads. I just asked because whenever they oiled/sanded the road it must have been quite a while before since there was no evidence of anything having been spread recently...just looked like any other paved road. Maybe no one ever got around to taking down the signs.

I figured it had to be something to freshen/prolong the life of the asphalt, but it's not something I've ever seen done around here.



Calcium chloride is what I remember being used when I was growing up, sometimes they'd just spray water. I think they might have used river water, because sometimes it smelled really swampy.
Don't ever remember seeing oil used on roads, though some farmers would pour used motor oil along fence lines to keep the weeds down. I guess nobody really thought about how bad it was. I was guilty of that too when I still lived in an apartment...I'd go to some gravel pit or someplace similar and just let the oil drain on the ground when I'd do an oil change in my car. :embarrassed: Hopefully, the statute of limitations is up.



I can only imagine what's getting in the air even now from people who use waste oil furnaces to heat shops, etc.

I believe EPA has determined that used oil is a hazardous waste, and in order to burn it as a fuel, it must meet certain standards, which require testing. I have read a million of these regs, but I couldn't see wading through this one!

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-04/documents/57fr41566.pdf

 

[Oaktree]

If someone could invent a hot top material that wont crack all up, flexes with freeze and thaw, gas would be lot cheaper here, down side is they'd be lot less jobs. Seem so when I went south 10-15 years ago to VA and out to MO there was concrete roads but not sure, sometimes my memory plays tricks on me...

Even some northern states in the west do that. Seem to recall driving along Rt. 2 across Montana back in the 70s and it was concrete. The thumps of driving over the expansion joints got old after a while.

I remember a few concrete roads here in New England when I was a kid, though most of them had been paved over with asphalt by the mid 60s. You'd think if it worked well here they'd continue doing it. Might have something to do with the soil composition...maybe some states it drains better than the hardpack-over-ledge that's around here.

 

[Jstpssng]

If someone could invent a hot top material that wont crack all up, flexes with freeze and thaw, gas would be lot cheaper here, down side is they'd be lot less jobs. Seem so when I went south 10-15 years ago to VA and out to MO there was concrete roads but not sure, sometimes my memory plays tricks on me...

The last time that I knew Route 295 down near Brunswick along the stretch where the BFI is was concrete paved over. It's been many years since I was down that way so it might have changed... or it could also be my memory playing tricks on me.

 

[wheelbuilder]

I went to Scotland as a teenager and remember seeing them topping a road with hot tar and smooth pea sized stone. They rolled it right after. I don't remember seeing a ton of stone loose afterwards like I do here when they oil and stone.
Time may have distorted my memory, but I thought the roads seemed pretty good at the time.

If someone could invent a hot top material that wont crack all up, flexes with freeze and thaw, gas would be lot cheaper here, down side is they'd be lot less jobs. Seem so when I went south 10-15 years ago to VA and out to MO there was concrete roads but not sure, sometimes my memory plays tricks on me...

 

[Jstpssng]

I went to Scotland as a teenager and remember seeing them topping a road with hot tar and smooth pea sized stone. They rolled it right after. I don't remember seeing a ton of stone loose afterwards like I do here when they oil and stone.
Time may have distorted my memory, but I thought the roads seemed pretty good at the time.

They don't have the cold temps that we do here though. Other factors include drainage, base material, how well the road is prepped before surfacing, and amount of heavy traffic. (Do they have 100K log trucks in Scotland?) When the road surface cracks it give salt and water a chance to get through causing the adjacent area to thaw and heave; even more so with the material they've been spreading for the last 10-15 years, which works in colder weather. By winter's end it's lifted in so many places it's like driving down RR tracks... no wonder I only get about 40k miles out of a set of ball joints.

 

[MossRoad]

Most of the major roads around here are concrete. If done right, they last a long time and you don't hear or feel the expansion joints. If done wrong, YIKES! You get to live with it for 40 years.