An intersection in Kingston upon Hull, 2022. It looked brand new in 2019:
:
I’ve already had the perception that no matter where I look, British roads look poor-quality and depressing. Do they use shitty asphalt and road paint, what is making them weather so fast? Is it the rain the UK is so famous for???
A friend who is in political circles (not British) once told me that cheaping out on asphalt is a very easy way to steal public funds
That. It’s corruption.
On top of the truck damage, looks like a lot of trenching going on there.
When you see ~1m wide strips of road with different asphault it usually means the road got dug up to access sewer or power. The smaller ~5-10cm wide ones are micro trenches for comms or small service lines.
It looks like they added some signalling too, and might have dug up that intersection to put in new stuff.
Vaxxed?
road damage varies with the fourth power of axle load
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law
15,000 times more road damage from a 30 ton truck compared to a 2 ton car
It’s crumbling with sadness because there’s no tram tracks running through it
Vehicles have gotten a lot heavier in the last decade. Plus those busses in the 2019 pic. Heavier vehicles wear down roads fast
It’s also possible that around 2019 that street only got a slurry seal top coat, which buys a few years for the road’s lifespan. Actually repaving a road is expensive, noisy, and disruptive, which is why it’s only done every ~15 years.
Also, utilities (comm lines, water, electrical, sewage, gas, etc) are under roads. If the utility line goes bad and needs replacement, guess what? The road’s getting dug up and the repair is gonna be just good enough for the inspector to sign off on it
Vehicles have gotten heavier in my country too, but the roads aren’t degrading anywhere near this fast.
Someone elsewhere suggested road surfacing companies are basically doing planned obsolescence by cheapening out, so the local government gives them more contracts, while also being unable to pay for better work due to austerity.
Vehicles have gotten a lot heavier in the last decade.
Also just a lot more both in terms of absolute size and in terms of per capita.
depends on what is being done to the road. There are varying levels of ‘repair’. Sealcoat all the way to demoing and redoing the underlying roadbed and up.
You’d have to see what was done to the particular roads to determine whether it was corruption, or ineptitude via improper repairs.
Does temperature in the winter hover around freezing or see-saw between below and above freezing? The freeze-thaw cycle absolutely wrecks roads. Does the UK heavily salt their roads in the winter?
See saw. Sub zero nights and 10degree days.
Salting only occurs when snow is anticipated, and only occurs on main roads not side streets.
Yeah, that’s a recipe for shit roads. Not to say roads can’t be properly maintained when this occurs, it will just cost more. For the same amount of money michigan is always going to have shittier roads than say florida. At the same time, one of the most noticeable things when you cross into ontario is how much better the roads are. At least it looks like the UK is on top of patching. Where I’m from, roads can take on a lunar quality.
I know this isn’t relevant to your comment but I should probably add here that I mean Celcius. Someone will be confused by my lack of mentioning it, I didn’t consider that before.
TERF Island Rot Aura
I believe you lot call them “lorries”
The roads have depression
