Posted on 07/17/2010 5:59:50 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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Paved roads, historical emblems of American achievement, are being torn up across rural America and replaced with gravel or other rough surfaces as counties struggle with tight budgets and dwindling state and federal revenue. State money for local roads was cut in many places amid budget shortfalls.
In Michigan, at least 38 of the 83 counties have converted some asphalt roads to gravel in recent years. Last year, South Dakota turned at least 100 miles of asphalt road surfaces to gravel. Counties in Alabama and Pennsylvania have begun downgrading asphalt roads to cheaper chip-and-seal road, also known as "poor man's pavement." Some counties in Ohio are simply letting roads erode to gravel.
The moves have angered some residents because of the choking dust and windshield-cracking stones that gravel roads can kick up, not to mention the jarring "washboard" effect of driving on rutted gravel.
But higher taxes for road maintenance are equally unpopular. In June, Stutsman County residents rejected a measure that would have generated more money for roads by increasing property and sales taxes.
"I'd rather my kids drive on a gravel road than stick them with a big tax bill," said Bob Baumann, as he sipped a bottle of Coors Light at the Sportsman's Bar Café and Gas in Spiritwood.
Rebuilding an asphalt road today is particularly expensive because the price of asphalt cement, a petroleum-based material mixed with rocks to make asphalt, has more than doubled over the past 10 years. Gravel becomes a cheaper option once an asphalt road has been neglected for so long that major rehabilitation is necessary.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
......nothing wrong with chip and oil roads......
You fail to consider loading. It all has to do with psi, pounds per square inch.
The psi’s exerted on the road surface from vehicle tires are transmitted downward in a cone of force. The peak of that cone and the greatest psi’s are on the surface. The chip and seal is thin,and transmits the load poorly. Asphalt concrete and Portland cement concrete are always thicker and able to better distribute that load to the subgrade and grade below.
If there is much heavy traffic from trucks or school busses the excess force will produce a rutted road. This is especially true of a gravel road with no subase and also for Tarmac and Macadam roads (chip n seal)
It was noted above there are portland cement concrete roads that are very old. In my experience they are mostly gone. The problem is expansion of the portland cement concrete. It moves and will crack unless there are expansion joints to contain the movement. On the interstate system there was great political and engineering design pressure to pave with portland cement concrete. Sadly, the lesson learned was that it is a mistake. The expansion joint pavement edges wear away and there can be vertical movement there resulting in a bone jarring ride whapata whapata whapata.
Asphalt concrete on the other hand is flexible and has good compressive strength. There is no need for expansion joints and the terribly disruptive and expensive maintenance.
For rural roads, maintenance becomes a matter of $$/vehicle trip. Low traffic count does not justify the expense of high traffic. The question for a politician is When do you draw the line?
In the end though, all roads fail with traffic and age.
By that definition, I am one; I live on a one mile long gravel loop road which circles a small lake. In addition to the typical gravel road problems (dusty cars, even dusty houses for those who are close to the road), the road is so hilly that any significant rain will cause erosion and gullies in the roadway. The State DOT regrades and regravels the road at least three times a year. Clearly, it would be cheaper in the long run to pave it.
One problem is that some of the residents don't want the road paved, on the grounds that to do so would make the neighborhood lose its "rustic charm," and that the gravel road encourages low driving speeds (20-25 mph). Personally, I think they just want excuses to have Range Rovers and Hummers.
It’s going to be quite difficult to ride my bicycle on gravel roads.
It’s been a while since I last traveled I-40 east of Oklahoma City, but Oklahoma roads (at least the state-maintained two-lanes) are generally quite smooth and well-built. When last I attempted I-35 southbound from Oklahoma City, I encountered so much construction that I decided I’d do better on the two-lane state highways.
It's not quite that bad in 'Nooga - yet. But with a RINO tax-and-spend Mayor (Littlefield) who's largest campaign contributor was SEIU, things can only get worse. This guy's a wannabe Daley, trying his best to turn Chattanooga into Chicago. He's continued to claim that there is no gang violence in Chattanooga despite the gang-related activity that continues to occur within the city's limits.
Fortunately for the residents, he's about to be unemployed due to term limits. He wouldn't be re-elected anyway, after his annexing frenzy and the enormous property tax increase that he pushed through city council. His political career is over, and we regional folks will make sure of that by keeping his reputation where it belongs.
Official numbers - the last statistics I found on a quick search showed 20 murders in 2008. I have no idea how many were gun-related, and I know that there are shootings that aren't murders (victim doesn't die, self-defense, etc.). The city has its issues, and if the government doesn't start doing its proper duty, it'll become much worse. They're going to chase all the responsible people out of the city limits, just as Cleveland, Ohio did back in the 1960's, 70's, and 80's.
Unfortunately, I live below, and not far off, my narrow road. Last winter a good sized, 10" deep pothole developed on the far side of the road. Since then I have been regularly filling it with gravel, cinders left over from salting and clay dust. Once it gets about 5" deep again, I repeat the process.
I don’t know about your state, but here I saw a really fancy sign here that said something like, “Your Government Tax Dollars at Work.” But no one was working. It’s just there at the corner of a downtown intersection where some barricades are set up... but no construction going on. I need to go and take a photo of it. The only thing missing is a huge portrait of Obama with the sun rising out of the back of his head.
OMG - I grew up in Pittsburgh and remember the cinder they used for traction when it snowed! And I remember my mum using mercurochrome for every boo-boo I got! It’s a ‘Burgh thang.
Yous dollars at work. Bike paths by state. http://stimuluswatch.org/2.0/
Double Dipping.
I’m reading that right now.
It’s scary how close it is to today.
I live on a dirt street that we’re trying to have declared abandoned by the county. There is only one other house on it and that one sits empty at the end of the road all winter. There are 4 other properties that but up to it but I’m the sole consistent user. I’ve only seen the county plow it once and then they go stuck in the neighbor’s brand new drainfield.
Its amazing how tightly the county clings to that strip of parallel tire tracks. Those responsibility free tax dollars are apparently enough to break them.
No it won’t. The slaves will be paying for helicopters and airplanes for the elite class of politicians. Who needs roads.
You will be fine on dirt roads if they were like what I grew up on. Hard as a rock, I had no problems with them at all on my old 10 speed. If you like the area and want to do gravel pick up a nice mountain bike, they handle them quite well.
I had the same thoughts about I-29 in Iowa. There is a distinct difference when you cross the state line coming from MO. Worst stretch of freeway I've driven in many a year.
I would rather ride a pony.
::: pondering whether or not my employer will convert covered parking into corrals::: I must go buy some cowboy boots.
I-40 In Arkansas seemed like it was a mish mash of concrete blocks thrown down is a haphazard fashion. What a shock breaker.
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