Roads to Ruin: towns replace pavement with cheaper gravel to save $$$

[Liberal_in_LA]

Roads to Ruin: Towns Rip Up the Pavement
Asphalt Is Replaced By Cheaper Gravel; 'Back to Stone Age' .

"When had lots of money, they paved a lot of the roads and tried to make life easier for the people who lived out here," said Stutsman County Highway Superintendant Mike Zimmerman, sifting the dusty black rubble through his fingers. "Now, it's catching up to them."

Outside this speck of a town, pop. 78, a 10-mile stretch of road had deteriorated to the point that residents reported seeing ducks floating in potholes, Mr. Zimmerman said. As the road wore out, the cost of repaving became too great. Last year, the county spent $400,000 on an RM300 Caterpillar rotary mixer to grind the road up, making it look more like the old homesteader trail it once was.

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.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704913304575370950363737746.html

[izquierdista]

1. Start with the Hamptons first

They are the ones benefiting from those tax cuts.

[Schema Thing]

2. won't someone think of the ducks?

[handmade34]

3. ahhh

let the Earth breathe...

I hate paved roads

[girl gone mad]

19. I agree.

We've also created a lot of artificial flood zones by paving over huge swathes of land.

Gravel roads are not so bad.

[DiverDave]

4. They can build a road that can last

for 500 years, look at some of the roads the romans built, still being used today!

But the politicians build on the cheap to get votes, once they are in, who cares?

[AnArmyVeteran]

7. Road repair is a big time racket. You're right about the Roman roads.

And imagine, those roads we made without any of the huge modern equipment we have today. There is a road made out of bricks near my city that must be 90 years old and it looks like not a brick is out of place. I wonder, do roads come with warranties against faulty workmanship or with guarantees to last a certain amount of years/decades? If if they don't, why not? It seems as part of the bidding process companies should warranty roads they build and then have to fill every pot hole or other defect for the entire length of the warranty. But with so much contracting being performed brothers-in-law of people in charge I doubt if there is anything the public can do to make them accountable.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. The did not have overloaded semi rolling over them

Heavy trucks damage roads, even those designed for them.

[populistdriven]

26. it is called porus asphalt

http://www.hotmix.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=359&Itemid=863

“When it pours, it’s porous.”


Porous asphalt pavements offer developers and planners a new tool in their toolbox for managing storm water. These pavements, used mostly for parking lots, allow water to drain through the pavement surface into a stone recharge bed and infiltrate into the soils below the pavement. Such pavements have been proving their worth since the mid-1970s, and recent changes in storm water regulations have prompted many consulting engineers and public works officials to seek information about them.



What can porous asphalt do?

Porous asphalt pavements are of great interest to site planners and public-works departments. With the proper design and installation, porous asphalt can provide cost-effective, attractive pavements with a life span of more than twenty years, and at the same time provide storm-water management systems that promote infiltration, improve water quality, and many times eliminate the need for a detention basin. The performance of porous asphalt pavements is similar to that of other asphalt pavements. And, like other asphalt pavements, they can be designed for many situations.



How does it work?

The technology is really quite simple. The secret to success is to provide the water with a place to go, usually in the form of an underlying, open-graded stone bed. As the water drains through the porous asphalt and into the stone bed, it slowly infiltrates into the soil. The stone bed size and depth must be designed so that the water level never rises into the asphalt. This stone bed, often 18 to 36 inches in depth, provides a tremendous subbase for the asphalt paving.



To view a cross section of a porous asphalt pavement, click here.



What does it cost?

Special features such as the underlying stone bed are more expensive than conventional construction, but these costs are more than offset by the elimination of many elements of standard storm-water management systems. On those jobs where unit costs have been compared, a porous asphalt pavement is generally the less-expensive option. The cost advantage is even more dramatic when the value of land that might have been used for a detention basin or other storm-water management features is considered.



How long do these pavements last, and how long do they remain porous?

Even after twenty years, porous pavements show little if any cracking or pothole problems. The surface wears well. Porous asphalt retains its ability to handle rain water for many years. One of the best-known porous parking lots, located at the Walden Pond State Reservation in Massachusetts, was constructed in 1977. While it has never been repaved, it is in good shape and still drains effectively.



In a study of a porous pavement system constructed at the Centre County/Pennsylvania State Visitor center, researchers found that the system had maintained a consistent infiltration rate. During a 25-year precipitation event, there was no surface discharge from the stone beds.



Do these pavements look “different?” Are they smooth?

While slightly coarser than standard asphalt, porous asphalt pavements are attractive and acceptable. Most people parking on a porous asphalt parking lot will not notice (or believe) that it is porous. The surface of a porous asphalt pavement is smooth enough to meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).



What special additives or construction techniques are needed?

An added advantage to porous asphalt is that it does not necessitate proprietary ingredients. It does not require the contractor to have special paving equipment or skills. With the proper information, most asphalt plants can easily prepare the mix and general paving contractors can install it.



How does porous asphalt affect water quality?
There has been limited sampling data on the porous pavement systems, although the available data indicate a very high removal rate for total suspended solids, metals, and oil and grease.



Are there other environmental benefits?

Because of the open structure of the pavement, porous asphalt offers a “cooler” pavement choice. By replenishing water tables and aquifers rather than forcing rainfall into storm sewers, porous asphalt also helps to reduce demands on storm sewer systems. In areas where storm-water impact fees are imposed by local governments, such fees may be reduced by using porous asphalt.

[AnArmyVeteran]

5. The conservative 'utopia' keeps becoming more and more a reality.

Conservatives hate everything about government, its services, its creations and the government workers who toil tirelessly for others. They attack all government spending as a waste, unless that spending is to build weapons to be used in wars against non-existent enemies. Then conservatives are for unlimited amounts of money to be used on defense, even if the spending doesn't increase our protection from foreign threats by even a dime. Conservatives lust for huge armies and horrendous weaponry to destroy countries and kill innocent people, but vehemently attack any spending used to help the sick, the poor or the downtrodden of our own fellow citizens.

As government programs get slashed and our infrastructure deteriorates to an unusable condition we will begin to resemble countries like Somalia or Haiti. There will be no standards, no regulations and no laws to ensure the public safety or the ability to have a functional society. As government is destroyed and our infrastructure becomes unusable the very capitalism that conservatives seem to worship will become virtually impossible. No commerce will lead to massive unemployment, causing our country to fall into a death spiral with no hope of ever recovering. All of the current threads that weave throughout our country holding it together would be ripped out leaving nothing in its place. Order would turn to chaos and chaos into anarchy.

If conservative beliefs are forced upon our country and if they succeed in implementing all of their agendas, there would be no future for the United States. As we stand on the rubble where a great country once stool, we could tell conservatives "I told you so", but at that point blaming those who caused the destruction would be the last thing on our minds. We would be so busy just trying to survive in the dog-eat-dog world created by conservatives.

The United States would become a combination of Somalia and Haiti, with no functioning government, no commerce and no hope. Conservatives might even feel 'proud' of their success in destroying our country. And just like in Somalia, the people with the biggest guns would be ruling over those who are the most vulnerable. Conservatives would even be proud of having a country where almost the entire GNP of their 'new United States' would be piracy, the equivalent to the today's big businesses ruthlessly doing whatever they want without fear of government laws or law enforcement. If all conservative beliefs became realities then America would become exactly like the libertarian 'paradise' of Somalia.

Conservatives cloak themselves in self-delusion professing to be 'Christians' but they reject all of Jesus' teachings. If Jesus was nailed to the cross today, but pulled down before he died, Christian conservative extremists would want to deny him medical care and condemn him as he lay dying, saying people who are irresponsible enough to not have health insurance should not be entitled to receive the medical care they need to live. Today 43,000 of our American brothers and sisters are needlessly dying every year because they committed the crime of being poor, unemployed or down-on-their-luck. In a conservative utopia those 43,000 would turn into tens of millions a year.

The divisions we are experiencing in the United States is not just a struggle between liberals and conservatives or democrats and republicans. We are in the midst of a full scale war of good versus evil. If we are not successful in stopping insane, short-sighted, radical conservative agendas, all inspired and driven by hatred, racism, ignorance, fear and anger our country will have no future.

If we can't defeat the evils of today's mutant conservatism we might as well begin building a coffin in the shape of the once great United States...

[Odin2005]

6. +1,000,000,000,000

[Initech]

22. Well said, we must get them out of office.

Not just a few at a time - we must completely eliminate conservatives. Beck, Rush, Coulter, Hannity, all of them - are making a mockery of our political system, and their radical anti-government views are dangerous. You're right - they want to completely eliminate government.

[depakid]

8. In Australia, we never bothered to seal 'em in the first place!

:rofl:

and you should see our "bridges!"

[AnArmyVeteran]

9. Are they falling apart?

[depakid]

17. No- just antiques!

funky old wooden things. Where we have them.

There's a reason why our vehicles have snorkels on them!

[Robb]

10. Having lived around dirt roads, almost exclusively, until recently

...I can tell you they are charming, cheap to maintain, and an enormous health hazard.

Particulate matter from even light traffic is a serious problem, unsatisfactorily addressed by salt mixtures (mag chloride) that seem to kill trees and encourage noxious weed growth. Organic dust abatement materials cost twice as much, last half as long, and smell like rotting garbage when the weather gets hot.

There is nothing to celebrate here, believe me.

[Bloofer_Lady]

11. They did the chip and seal road thing here...

...in a rich neighborhood and they decided to pave it for real when those people started complaining that there were chips in the paint jobs of their cars from it.

[Robb]

14. It's all expensive.

I couldn't believe how much it costs to pave a foot of road -- what with curbs and gutters, sidewalks, and all that stuff. But with dirt you get people getting sick from dust -- EPA regulates municipalities with dirt roads, they have to do something to abate the dust or they get fined.

[Bloofer_Lady]

16. We don't have sidewalks and regular street gutters here.

When you walk down the streets here you have to hope you don't get hit.LOL

[jp11]

13. Gravel roads is good biken.

[LWolf]

15. If you maintain gravel roads properly, they aren't rutted.

Of course, you have to slow down; perhaps that's the real issue?

Personally, I prefer gravel. Better traction when it's icy.

It IS hard on tires, though.

Chip Seal is not a gravel road, but is certainly less costly than maintaining asphalt.

[Stinky The Clown]

18. Road Fairy to Conservatives: Fuck You, Assholes. Tax *this*

[madinmaryland]

20. Huh??

:wtf:

[Initech]

21. $10 says the mayor makes six figures, like Bell's mayor does.

[Subdivisions]

23. Yet another indication of peak oil. My sig just happens to relate to this.

[Overseas]

24. 8 Years of Bush maladministration -- 8 years of deferred maintenance

That was another way a Truth & Reconciliation Commission could have made it clear that millions of new jobs were needed ASAP -- to repair the infrastructure the Bush gang allowed to run to ruin while they shoveled all our cash at war profiteers and tax cuts for the top 10%.

Edited to add -- That an administration can slash taxes for the super-rich while allowing bridges in Minnesota to weaken to the point of disaster, levies needing reinforcement to stay the same, rural towns to lose their few paved roads, and mass transit systems nationwide suffer cutbacks -- those kind of skewed priorities would be on my list of impeachable offenses. Negligence. While they spent recklessly on wars of choice contracted out to their friends, the Bush gang allowed our national infrastructure to crumble.

If we had our Truth & Rec, that would have been on the list. Then the need for millions of infrastructure jobs immediately after the Bush Crash would have been clearer to all concerned. The president managed to push some repairs through with stimulus funding, but a Truth & Reconciliation review would have built a stronger groundswell in support of even larger stimulus projects nationwide.

[B Calm]

25. Since 1976 I live on a 1 1/2 mile long gravel road. The money spent

grading and for gravel though the years could have paved this road several times. Gravel is not cheap! Trust me, my driveway is 500 feet!

Back in the 1950s they were black topping county roads all over the state. What happened?

[xchrom]

27. all i can think of are 'jobs' not being done. nt

[slampoet]

28. I have read this story 4-5 times over the years and it always skips a few facts.

Like, Gravel roads are cheap and better for some uses.

Rural populations are shrinking and getting older.

Letting roads erode is NEVER comparable to changing them to gravel.



I recall reading this "news" in 1982, 1991, 1999,.........