Quote:
Originally Posted by Obadno
My guess on roads is going to be places in the north because of Freeze expansion and in the warm wet south, sinkholes, floods, washouts, soft ground settling etc.
Dryer parts of the country in the mountain west and great plains luck out as these climates are less harsh on roads and concrete, there is a reason why north African deserts house some of the best ancient ruins. Large blocks of stones hold up a LOOOOOONg time in dry climates.
You also have the "bad government" issue which is going to be the problems in California, road maintenance deferred due to internal political issues and other such bullshit.
There is no reason California roads should be in bad shape, they are in a climate that is easy on things like roads and have a massive tax base to maintain them but somehow those funds never seem to make it to cold hard repair work. Some mysteries will never be solved  |
Yes, I was surprised at the statistical chart that put San Francisco's road infrastructure at the top of the dereliction list. I drove from San Diego to San Francisco and back down to Los Angeles in 1990 and it was a magic carpet ride back then. things may have changed, I know road conditions have gotten worse in Montreal in the past thirty years. Road infrastructure here was so abominable that the major East West highway that leads into downtown has been entirely demolished and rebuilt in the past 5 years. It is almost finished. The old works dated back to 1966, and had to be removed completely. I doubt that that kind of thing would be necessary in a climate like Texas or California. Road salt and freeze thaw cycles damage the concrete/rebar structures on one hand, and the expansion and contraction of the roadbed and surfaces on the other.
The old Champlain Bridge was also replaced entirely with a 4 km long 4.5 billion dollar span inaugurated this summer. The old one was brought into service in 1959, and thus lasted 60 years. It will be demolished and the cost of that operation will hover around half a billion dollars.
The other major spans around the island also need a lot of work on a regular basis, there is talk of building a new Ile-aux-tourtes bridge at the Extreme West end, and a major overhaul of the LHLafontaine tunnel in the East end is starting next month and will cost a billion dollars to complete.
A lot of the work listed above is due to premature damage caused by erosion from salt, ice and water.