Road surface quality
- Thread starter dodgy
- Start date
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betty swollocks
large member
Can you see me now?
marinyork said:
Sorry I am late
Posh looking stuff when the traffic bearing capacity is shot
Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) – the choice for motorways and trunk roads at the moment – fairly uniform looking stuff all the aggregate (stones and sand) is used for skid resistance – can be laid thinner and the theory is that it lasts longer – also many very thin applications are used where skid resistance is what is needed
Hot rolled asphalt (HRA) used mainly at the moment mainly by Local Authorities for overlays on important roads – to extend traffic capacity and refresh skid resistance – relatively cheapish matrix with high friction stones (expensive) rolled into the top
Generally a relatively scientific assessment will have been carried out to determine whether overlays using these materials are required – not done that often as it is an expensive option compared to surface dressing and some of the surface will often have to removed using planing machines if clearances under bridges are to be maintained or kerbs levels are to be maintained in towns
Surface dressing – what we see on most of the roads we ride on – patch up the worst bits – potholes etc and cover with a layer of bitumen and chipping – cheap and nasty but when its settled down does the job – refreshes skid resistance – normally applied on a sort of round robin depending more on how long was the last time it was done rather than a scientific assessment.
Most roads look like a patchwork quilt because different solutions have been applied at different times depending on whether the traffic bearing capacity needs improving or whether it just needs the skid resistance refreshing - its is very expensive to reconstruct whole lengths of roads plus fashions change
A bit simplistic but never mind
mcshroom
Bionic Subsonic
- Location
- Egremont, Cumbria
On my commute (rural single lane roads mostly) there seems to be a lot of roads that look like a light grey surface with a darker layer added on the top. This tends to be obvious as the dark layer is usually smashed to bits and the lighter (smoother) is showing through. Is this the anti-skid stuff?
GrasB
Veteran
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
What gets me at the moment is the stuff they're laying over sections of pot holed road would be quite nice to ride on if it was actually flat. The problem is it's randomly ridged at a relatively high frequency if you're doing over 20mph so in some ways is worse than the potholes due to the vibration buzz.
I'm so glad you've brought this up. More and more i'm seeing smooth roads around here being overlaid with the cheap gravel stuff. i'm seriously considering writing the council to complain, but not sure how much good it will do, for the following reasons.
1. It's dangerous to cyclists because the gravel collects where cars push it to the side and on corners. particularly dangerous to cyclists on corners.
2. it's dangerous to cyclists because lorry tyres grip it and rip it up within a week leaving long stretches of tyres tracks in the road, making steering dodgy.
3. Because of it's loose surface, water gets in, freezes in the cold and lo and behold a pot hole appears, not only wasting my tax money but making it dangerous to cyclists.
4. It hides dangerous dips and lumps in roads because of the "speckled" surface which basically acts as a camouflage.
5. Not only does the freezing water produce potholes, but deep cracks and crevaces [sp??] that stretch across the road which you can't avoid.
Basically, i'm going to write to my MP about this because not only, as a tax payer, do i believe it is a blatant waste of my money, because it's just a cheap short term fix, but it's highly dangerous to cyclists and discourages people from cycling (green eco issue). o yea, did i mention that cars kick up the gravel into your eye??
1. It's dangerous to cyclists because the gravel collects where cars push it to the side and on corners. particularly dangerous to cyclists on corners.
2. it's dangerous to cyclists because lorry tyres grip it and rip it up within a week leaving long stretches of tyres tracks in the road, making steering dodgy.
3. Because of it's loose surface, water gets in, freezes in the cold and lo and behold a pot hole appears, not only wasting my tax money but making it dangerous to cyclists.
4. It hides dangerous dips and lumps in roads because of the "speckled" surface which basically acts as a camouflage.
5. Not only does the freezing water produce potholes, but deep cracks and crevaces [sp??] that stretch across the road which you can't avoid.
Basically, i'm going to write to my MP about this because not only, as a tax payer, do i believe it is a blatant waste of my money, because it's just a cheap short term fix, but it's highly dangerous to cyclists and discourages people from cycling (green eco issue). o yea, did i mention that cars kick up the gravel into your eye??
furthermore, we only notice it because we are on our bikes. if only the people who paid "road tax" could actually see what their money is spent on... Perhaps we should point it out to them next time they tell us we should pay "road tax".
perhaps if loads of people write in to their local authorities and start complaining they will rethink.
a road near me still has that lovely tight knit dark black smooth tarmac. it's about a mile long, been done ages and not one pothole. could ride up and down it all day
perhaps if loads of people write in to their local authorities and start complaining they will rethink.
a road near me still has that lovely tight knit dark black smooth tarmac. it's about a mile long, been done ages and not one pothole. could ride up and down it all day
PatrickPending
Legendary Member
- Location
- Leicester
buggi said:
Doing this all over leicestershire too on nice smooth roads rather than fixing the bad ones and filling potholes we have cheap and nasty gravel on tar all over the place. Often they just go straight over potholes without repairing them leading to a hole filled with gravel - have the council nothing better to do with our money?
Globalti
Legendary Member
The surface some are discussing is caused by top-dressing; they spray the road with tar and then dump a load of granite chippings on top. Most stick and the rest find their way into the gutters and around the islands.
Be grateful the roads aren't like African roads - this is a picture my colleague sent me yesterday of the main road into a major industrial area called Kiri Kiri in Lagos:
The factory in the background is a foam mattress factory that burned down 2-3 years ago. This road was re-tarred about 9 months ago but when you only put a couple of inches of soft black tarmac on top of that red laterite, it gets torn up the first time a heavy lorry tries to turn on it. Huge potholes appear and then people throw rocks in to stop their trucks getting stuck by grounding.
Be grateful the roads aren't like African roads - this is a picture my colleague sent me yesterday of the main road into a major industrial area called Kiri Kiri in Lagos:
The factory in the background is a foam mattress factory that burned down 2-3 years ago. This road was re-tarred about 9 months ago but when you only put a couple of inches of soft black tarmac on top of that red laterite, it gets torn up the first time a heavy lorry tries to turn on it. Huge potholes appear and then people throw rocks in to stop their trucks getting stuck by grounding.
Yes, the tar plus granite chippings it my personal non favourite. There's a rolling road near me, quiet for traffic, but there's one dip on a corner where all the gravel has found its way down there by gravity and lies on the corner, just when most cyclists are travelling at their fastest! It's very near Eureka Cyclists Cafe, one new visitor there broke his neck when he fell on that corner about 2 months ago.
