Where is asphalt technology?

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
They don't use chip seal for major roads though do they? It is loud in almost any car, except maybe some 70's land yacht's with bias ply 80 series tires...


Not the twinned highways, but the highway from Saskatoon to Calgary is a busy single lane highway on which I encountered a really bad section of new chip seal last fall.

Do they get quieter with age? The freshest ones always seem the worst.

They have a few rubberized asphalt test sections around here. Those seem to be the best.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: brianl703
"Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement" can. Some parts of I66 in Northern Virginia were constructed with this pavement and it's held up fine for about 15 years.


I know that stretch of I-66, and you're right: it's an excellent example of a concrete road done right. If it's done right, I prefer concrete over asphalt, but you rarely see concrete done right...

 

[brianl703]

I'm pretty sure that some parts of route 1 in VA are concrete underneath the asphalt. The evenly spaced cracks in the asphalt tell the tale. Ditto for I95 and the I495 beltway.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: pbm
I don't understand (actually I do) why we give BILLIONS to other countries while our country is a MESS....


That's something I will never understand about our governement. They give billions away to other countries, while our infastructure is falling apart and our national debt is about to equal our country's entire GDP. How can we be expected to take care of other nations when we can't even take care of our own?

 

[D189379]

Concrete cracks in the cold. It deteriorates when road salt is applied. The rebar is subject to rusting. It's very expensive.

Asphalt gives superior grip in colder weather.

My observations so far.

 

[rslifkin]

^ I agree about having a bit less grip on cold concrete when power off a stop.

 

[steve20]

Lexus 114 has my second major gripe
" rally hate the way man hole covers (sewer covers etc.) are always in the part of the road the vehicle travels. and their never even with the road surface" How much would it take guys to put the manhole covers on the double yellow lines.

Biggest gripe of all is driving down a newly asphalt paved highway, and its not noticeable smoother than the road they just destroyed. I guess no one is accountable for the quality because the Govt is paying. I suggest driving a 'bump mapping' vehicle (they actually have them to measure the surface condition of theroad) down an ewly paved road, and the contractor has to get itright-else he doesn't get paid

Steve

 

[Kestas]

The center double yellow line is typically the crowned part of the road and sits high. Sewers are placed in the low points of any road. I've seen rings put over manholes when they repave, to raise the level of the manhole cover even with the new road surface.

 

[eljefino]

A manhole cover in the middle of the travel lane means the sanitary sewer/ pipe chase/ underground electric can be dug up and fixed, if necessary, by only closing one lane of traffic. If you have a storm drain that's off to the shoulder a little.

Remember they have to put this stuff in on public rights of way.

And it it's really in the middle of the travel lane you can straddle it. It would bother me slightly as a utility worker down in some dark space to keep hearing "ker-thunk, ker-thunk" of tires hitting that manhole overhead...

Of course if your street is like here you'd think gophers planned (random) manhole placement. Pop up, oh okay, it's some kind of street-- great place.

 

[wander2039]

Here in KCK the manhole placement is ridiculous. Typically they have three in a row and literally starts from one side of the lane and goes to the other. Really difficult to miss to say the least. The wife yelled at me the other day since I was hitting every other manhole it seemed. Then I got yelled at again for successfully missing all of them but was making her sick. Alot of room to dart around in the lane with the Festiva! The boy sure enjoyed it though!

 

[Drew2000]

Montana (and other extreme-winter states) chip seal brand-new plant-mix asphalt as soon as it's laid, even on major roads. It's to seal the road from moisture and freeze-thaw problems, also it self-heals the surface in the hot weather.

There's nothing wrong with asphalt wear-layers esp. over concrete. The key is to map all the expansion joints in the concrete, then saw-cut the fresh asphalt over-layment through to the concrete joints below....then fill the cuts with rubber sealer. This really helps with seam breakage and the road surface lasts much longer.

 

[lexus114]

thats all too much like work for penn dot.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: kb01
In many countries, the contractors that bid on road contracts must also provide a warranty for all maintenance for very long periods of times.

I've mulled this over. Such a contract would make a paving company responsible for expenditures without any income for a long time. The problem is that they can go bankrupt during that time, leaving the DOT and taxpayers high and dry. And here in America, going bankrupt is increasingly used as a smart way to run a business.

Of course a smart person would write a contract where payments are held back to the paving company, and are stretched out for the contract duration and contingent on the followup work needed. Too bad Americans are too dumb (or greedy) to come up with such a plan.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
Originally Posted By: kb01
In many countries, the contractors that bid on road contracts must also provide a warranty for all maintenance for very long periods of times.

I've mulled this over. Such a contract would make a paving company responsible for expenditures without any income for a long time. The problem is that they can go bankrupt during that time, leaving the DOT and taxpayers high and dry. And here in America, going bankrupt is increasingly used as a smart way to run a business.

Of course a smart person would write a contract where payments are held back to the paving company, and are stretched out for the contract duration and contingent on the followup work needed. Too bad Americans are too dumb (or greedy) to come up with such a plan.