22 thoughts on “Who thought concrete roads were a good idea?”
Nothing wrong with concrete roads IF they have a proper bed and are thick enough. The German Autoban is concrete and has held up remarkably well. BUT it was built to last. Romans used a lot on concrete, stuffs still around. Apparently we do a poor job. No surprise.
My guess is that road was constructed by Stark. All of the concrete work of theirs that I have seen is shoddy. I don’t know why they are allowed to do work here. I wonder if someone is getting kickbacks for hiring them. Fortunately, Rowe did the concrete work on I-55/I-74 on the west side of town when the 3rd lane was added. It has held up fairly well compared to the roads Stark has done. The practice of accepting the lowest bid isn’t always a good thing. When you hire Stark, you don’t even get what you pay for.
The Autobahn is in a similar climate and a high speed road and it holds up. Is it the standards of the road builders or subdivision developers? Our area, Eagle crest, looks in the same condition.
I totally agree with DUROC. “NOTHING” is built to last anymore. It’s called “PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE” and has been going on now, for years! One example I can think of is…I-74 (east or west into Indiana). When that was first made (back in the 1960’s) that concrete roadway lasted for many years. Now with the ever increasing number of heavy semi’s, in many places the original road has been covered over with crappy asphalt (several times)…another “planned obsolescence” material! š š
All good comments (except maybe too hard on Stark) but Stan hit the nail on the head. Guaranteed jobs for the unions….and the contractors too. Everybody wins —- but the taxpayers. I had a buddy that owned a road constitution company in Minnesota. I asked him about this and he told me how it SHOULD be done but said the gov specs were way way less. Build the road bed to below the frost line and make the road way 12 inches thick. That highway will last.
You can tell the difference in road construction in Indiana vs. Illinois. People over here bitch about a few potholes. They’d really have an issue if they saw the condition of BN and Illinois roads everyday. Another big difference is the work gets done. Sometimes it’s not perfect but still much better than Illinois. Also contracts over here don’t allow the contractors to take two years on a job that is suppose to take a few months. Even the major 465 work around Indy that has taken over two years would be a five year job in Illinois. Knew a guy that worked for Rowe long ago. He said it was an unwritten understanding that the laborers would take as long as they wanted to get a job done to make it last longer. The corruption in Illinois knows no bounds.
How right you are!! One good example…. It’s taken Illinois forever to FINALLY start resurfacing I-74 through Danville. I drive over to B-N pretty often and more times than I can count, during normal daytime work hours (good weather and not lunch time), the road equipment is often just setting there with no workers around. M.Peabody is also correct about Indiana not allowing State contracted road work to “linger”…unless for some very good reason. In fact, I believe they may pay a bonus if construction is finished ahead of time….and it passes their highway quality parameters. What a difference the ‘politics’ of a state can make on something as necessary as “good” roads/highways/Interstates!
Fifty one years ago I married a gal from south Central Illinois. We drove through Effingham for nearly forty five years of Interstate intersection road construction!! Finally finished just a few years ago!!! Graft.
You’re right about Indiana getting road work done faster than Illinois. Case in point is the I-69 Finish Line project on the south side of Indy. They are upgrading/replacing SR 37–a 4 lane divided hwy with numerous traffic signals–with a new interstate hwy. They have managed to keep 4 lanes open during constructing new lanes in most places, as well as new ramps and interchanges. I’m impressed with how quickly they have made progress on it, especially considering the crazy high volume of traffic on that road. I’m guessing they are spending lots of money to get things done quickly. That’s the difference between a state that’s fiscally sound and a bankrupt state like Illinois.
And you are correct!! There’s been “constant” road construction (I-69 the newest, I-65, I-70, I-74) ….as you mentioned…additional lanes, ramps. overpasses, total re-surfacing etc., etc. going on in these last several years and and it DOES relate to how financially sound (plus a state’s political makeup) turns out to be. Geezz, I sure hope there’s NOT another Interstate being planned…at least while I’m still alive!! We’ve got them going in all directions as it is now!
Look up hemp crete. But, that would make sense. It grows like a weed. Restores nutrients for crop rotation. Extremely useful plant. Look up the Henry Ford hemp car, 1940’s.
We can’t go back but it was a huge mistake to turn as much freight traffic over to trucks from railroads as they did! The traffic is horrendous thus needing more interstates and lanes. But that will likely abate some with the EV mandates and push for more mass transit. That’s what ‘they’ want ….. to hamper mobility and garner more control. With EVs ‘they’ can, with no more than flipping a switch, control who gets electricity and when. The left wants total control because ” they know best.”
It’ really bad when you have to navigate your street with a multi-zig zag pattern going 2MPH!
So let’s NOT vote for the same ass holes that are ripping us off!
Nothing wrong with concrete roads IF they have a proper bed and are thick enough. The German Autoban is concrete and has held up remarkably well. BUT it was built to last. Romans used a lot on concrete, stuffs still around. Apparently we do a poor job. No surprise.
This is why the roads will never get fixed. Many concrete ones look nice until you drive them, more like horse trails.
Its not the material. Its the planned obsolescence. Guaranteed labor for the labor unions.
My guess is that road was constructed by Stark. All of the concrete work of theirs that I have seen is shoddy. I don’t know why they are allowed to do work here. I wonder if someone is getting kickbacks for hiring them. Fortunately, Rowe did the concrete work on I-55/I-74 on the west side of town when the 3rd lane was added. It has held up fairly well compared to the roads Stark has done. The practice of accepting the lowest bid isn’t always a good thing. When you hire Stark, you don’t even get what you pay for.
The Autobahn is in a similar climate and a high speed road and it holds up. Is it the standards of the road builders or subdivision developers? Our area, Eagle crest, looks in the same condition.
I totally agree with DUROC. “NOTHING” is built to last anymore. It’s called “PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE” and has been going on now, for years! One example I can think of is…I-74 (east or west into Indiana). When that was first made (back in the 1960’s) that concrete roadway lasted for many years. Now with the ever increasing number of heavy semi’s, in many places the original road has been covered over with crappy asphalt (several times)…another “planned obsolescence” material! š š
All good comments (except maybe too hard on Stark) but Stan hit the nail on the head. Guaranteed jobs for the unions….and the contractors too. Everybody wins —- but the taxpayers. I had a buddy that owned a road constitution company in Minnesota. I asked him about this and he told me how it SHOULD be done but said the gov specs were way way less. Build the road bed to below the frost line and make the road way 12 inches thick. That highway will last.
You can tell the difference in road construction in Indiana vs. Illinois. People over here bitch about a few potholes. They’d really have an issue if they saw the condition of BN and Illinois roads everyday. Another big difference is the work gets done. Sometimes it’s not perfect but still much better than Illinois. Also contracts over here don’t allow the contractors to take two years on a job that is suppose to take a few months. Even the major 465 work around Indy that has taken over two years would be a five year job in Illinois. Knew a guy that worked for Rowe long ago. He said it was an unwritten understanding that the laborers would take as long as they wanted to get a job done to make it last longer. The corruption in Illinois knows no bounds.
How right you are!! One good example…. It’s taken Illinois forever to FINALLY start resurfacing I-74 through Danville. I drive over to B-N pretty often and more times than I can count, during normal daytime work hours (good weather and not lunch time), the road equipment is often just setting there with no workers around. M.Peabody is also correct about Indiana not allowing State contracted road work to “linger”…unless for some very good reason. In fact, I believe they may pay a bonus if construction is finished ahead of time….and it passes their highway quality parameters. What a difference the ‘politics’ of a state can make on something as necessary as “good” roads/highways/Interstates!
Fifty one years ago I married a gal from south Central Illinois. We drove through Effingham for nearly forty five years of Interstate intersection road construction!! Finally finished just a few years ago!!! Graft.
You’re right about Indiana getting road work done faster than Illinois. Case in point is the I-69 Finish Line project on the south side of Indy. They are upgrading/replacing SR 37–a 4 lane divided hwy with numerous traffic signals–with a new interstate hwy. They have managed to keep 4 lanes open during constructing new lanes in most places, as well as new ramps and interchanges. I’m impressed with how quickly they have made progress on it, especially considering the crazy high volume of traffic on that road. I’m guessing they are spending lots of money to get things done quickly. That’s the difference between a state that’s fiscally sound and a bankrupt state like Illinois.
And you are correct!! There’s been “constant” road construction (I-69 the newest, I-65, I-70, I-74) ….as you mentioned…additional lanes, ramps. overpasses, total re-surfacing etc., etc. going on in these last several years and and it DOES relate to how financially sound (plus a state’s political makeup) turns out to be. Geezz, I sure hope there’s NOT another Interstate being planned…at least while I’m still alive!! We’ve got them going in all directions as it is now!
Forgot to add I-64 and I-80-90 to my above list!
yep Follow true Union planā¦$$
Parody and similar to systems contractors/tech cos.
Goal: design and implement a disaster short term Minimum Viable Product (risky mess) = guaranteed service and system and work and fees for Long run.
Disgusting progress
Look up hemp crete. But, that would make sense. It grows like a weed. Restores nutrients for crop rotation. Extremely useful plant. Look up the Henry Ford hemp car, 1940’s.
Go down GE road east past the old ge plant, thump,thump thump and so on. A concrete road!!!
We can’t go back but it was a huge mistake to turn as much freight traffic over to trucks from railroads as they did! The traffic is horrendous thus needing more interstates and lanes. But that will likely abate some with the EV mandates and push for more mass transit. That’s what ‘they’ want ….. to hamper mobility and garner more control. With EVs ‘they’ can, with no more than flipping a switch, control who gets electricity and when. The left wants total control because ” they know best.”
seriously, that’s got to be my ‘favorite’. how can there not be repercussions for such shoddy work? terrible…
It could be Bloomingtonās specs
Many of Bloomington’s city roads are concrete because that’s what former city engineer George Drye preferred.
It’ really bad when you have to navigate your street with a multi-zig zag pattern going 2MPH!
So let’s NOT vote for the same ass holes that are ripping us off!
15% or less voting did this.