Are People Dumber than a Pothole?

[fried1765]

The State Dept of Transportation is like that here. They LOVE to plane up all the hot top, then put gravel back down, then pave, and they wonder why the road lasts 10 years instead of 30.

I asked the State Engineers why don't they just put gravel over the hot top and build the road up? Traffic has been compacting the road base for years. When you build a home, you leave the soil under the footing undisturbed as much as possible so that it is on a firm bedding.

They told me it was so "water can get down through the roadbase, and hot top would stop it."

Apparently they do not look at the road when they are driving on it, because in the Spring of the year when the frost goes out, water comes UP through the road, so I would think if it could come UP through, it surely would go down through! Instead they spend millions grinding out the roadbed, hauling it off, and then hauling in new gravel that is not compacted nearly as well.

I just shake my head...

If the base contains clay material, gravel on top and/or more hot mix will not solve the problem long term.
The base must be removed, and replaced with compacted very permeable (gravel) material, to allow the water that finds it's way underneath the roadway to drain away naturally.
A Maine Winter, will heave any number of layers of hot mix, if the road base is not well drained.

 

[LouNY]

The State Dept of Transportation is like that here. They LOVE to plane up all the hot top, then put gravel back down, then pave, and they wonder why the road lasts 10 years instead of 30.

I asked the State Engineers why don't they just put gravel over the hot top and build the road up? Traffic has been compacting the road base for years. When you build a home, you leave the soil under the footing undisturbed as much as possible so that it is on a firm bedding.

They told me it was so "water can get down through the roadbase, and hot top would stop it."

Apparently they do not look at the road when they are driving on it, because in the Spring of the year when the frost goes out, water comes UP through the road, so I would think if it could come UP through, it surely would go down through! Instead they spend millions grinding out the roadbed, hauling it off, and then hauling in new gravel that is not compacted nearly as well.

I just shake my head...

I can't understand for the life of me why they decided this porous pavements are so great, the water goes thru the pavement then lays there and softnes the base up so it can give way and breakup the road surface. The old roads that shed water lasted a heck of a lot longer then these new expensive pieces of junk that go bad in 5 years.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^
A lot of it is from the salt they use on the road now. It thaws at a lower temp, the water works it's way through the cracks and freezes again. But people can do 70 the day after a snowstorm...

 

[Peter 315]

^^^^
A lot of it is from the salt they use on the road now. It thaws at a lower temp, the water works it's way through the cracks and freezes again. But people can do 70 the day after a snowstorm...

I plow snow on the highway people do 70 during the snow storm the snow storm, The snow storm other day 3 or 4 inches there was about 6 cars off the road.....

 

[Jstpssng]

I plow snow on the highway people do 70 during the snow storm the snow storm, The snow storm other day 3 or 4 inches there was about 6 cars off the road.....

A former coworker rearended a plow truck about 25 years ago. It was blowing snow so he didn't even know the truck was there. He survived, his pickup didn't.
Despite what people say about truckers, in a storm I tend to drop in behind a semi who is driving a sane speed and use him to regulate mine... keeping about 1/10 mile between us. I've travelled many hundreds of miles that way.

 

[shooterdon]

We call them citiots for a good reason.

They are not dumb....but many have no common sense and some are ignorant (do not know better).

 

[LouNY]

A former coworker rearended a plow truck about 25 years ago. It was blowing snow so he didn't even know the truck was there. He survived, his pickup didn't.
Despite what people say about truckers, in a storm I tend to drop in behind a semi who is driving a sane speed and use him to regulate mine... keeping about 1/10 mile between us. I've travelled many hundreds of miles that way.

I was doing that a few decades ago out in Idaho headed West from Idaho Falls on the interstate in a white out blizzard, wasn't very far behind a semi that was all chained up.
All of a sudden I lost his taillights, untill I went down on the shoulder and there they were and we both chewed back up on to the road. Heart went up into the throat for a few seconds as the nose of that 4by dropped all of a sudden.

 

[Oaktree]

Around here they most usually put something right on top of the existing asphalt. Kind of like - oiled gravel. A really long pile right down the center of the road. Then blade it to each edge and compact it with a roller.

That must be some sort of west coast/intermountain west thing. On a couple road trips back in the 70s/80s I noticed lots of signs (mostly federal highways in the middle of nowhere) with "fresh oil" or "sanded oil" signs posted. Never noticed any difference between that section of road and any other. Figured it might be some sort of low budget surface rejuvenation, but wasn't sure.

Don't think I've ever seen that east of the Rockies.

 

[Jstpssng]

That must be some sort of west coast/intermountain west thing. On a couple road trips back in the 70s/80s I noticed lots of signs (mostly federal highways in the middle of nowhere) with "fresh oil" or "sanded oil" signs posted. Never noticed any difference between that section of road and any other. Figured it might be some sort of low budget surface rejuvenation, but wasn't sure.

Don't think I've ever seen that east of the Rockies.

I saw that once when down in upstate NY around 2001.

 

[oosik]

Ah.....Yes. The oiled gravel down the center is much cheaper than real asphalt. However - "fresh oil" signs beat them all for cost savings.