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Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

theguardian.com

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Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#31

Post by amarcheschi »

xandrius wrote: post #30
liendolucas wrote: post #25

In Italy (Perugia) not only huge and dangerous potholes (is a disaster overall) but sidewalks maintenance is pretty much abandoned as well. I drive a motorcycle and instead of paying attention to driving I have to put considerable effort looking at the road because I know that if a drive over one of those I'll end up in the ground for sure.

To be fair, terrible roads might reduce accidents, reduce speeds, unnecessary vehicle usage, and turn the usual road rage into rage against the road, creating a bond between different drivers rather than antagonism. And it's also a net positive for mechanics and parts manufacturers. Basically a win-win for society (except for drivers, ofc). (partly /s and partly not, as I surprised myself realising how bad roads migh…

They also help dentists in getting huge checks because every time I catch a pothole with my road bike my teeth smash

Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#32

Post by fhd2 »

haunter wrote: post #19

I live in Hungary and the roads here are incredibly bad with millions of potholes. Hot summers and cold winters doesn’t help either. But what I noticed that if the asphalt has higer mixture of stones (usually they use basalt here) then there are virtually almost no potholes. It’s more loud as the surface is more rough but by my layman experience it’s much more durable. Pure asphalt roads with very little stone conten…

I did a road trip through Europe a few years back, and when we passed from Romania (coming from Cluj) to Hungary, the road immediately got _comically_ bad. As we got closer to Budapest things seemed to improve, but wow, I vividly remember this.

I'd be curious to learn whether it's a lack of maintenance (Hungary generally seemed well maintained except for the roads though) or something else.

Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#33

Post by stavros »

alexey-salmin wrote: post #24
dsego wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More stones also make asphalt more slippery in wet conditions don't they?

I think it's the opposite, this kind of asphalt has very rough surface.

It has a rough surface in the way that it makes it uncomfortable to walk on, but not in the way that tires will grip to it. Stones are oddly-shaped, but slippery.

Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#34

Post by PeterStuer »

alexey-salmin wrote: post #24
dsego wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More stones also make asphalt more slippery in wet conditions don't they?

I think it's the opposite, this kind of asphalt has very rough surface.

But not the right kind of grit rough. The 'stoney' rough asphalts can be extremely slippery when wet, and even dry they then to extend breaking distance.

My guess is they also cause more rolling tire wear and slightly more fuel consuption.

Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#35

Post by krona »

haunter wrote: post #19

I live in Hungary and the roads here are incredibly bad with millions of potholes. Hot summers and cold winters doesn’t help either. But what I noticed that if the asphalt has higer mixture of stones (usually they use basalt here) then there are virtually almost no potholes. It’s more loud as the surface is more rough but by my layman experience it’s much more durable. Pure asphalt roads with very little stone conten…

A higher aggregate mix sounds more like Tarmacadam (i.e. tarmac) although probably with a bituminous (rather than tar) binder these days.

The higher aggregate mix generally doesn't make for a more durable road though, but there's far more to a good road than just the materials its made from.

Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#36

Post by consp »

IneffablePigeon wrote: post #29
haunter wrote: post #19

I live in Hungary and the roads here are incredibly bad with millions of potholes. Hot summers and cold winters doesn’t help either. But what I noticed that if the asphalt has higer mixture of stones (usually they use basalt here) then there are virtually almost no potholes. It’s more loud as the surface is more rough but by my layman experience it’s much more durable. Pure asphalt roads with very little stone conten…

Pretty bad for bikes though, and pushchairs.

The stones are usually not that big and the bitumen makes it more even anyway. The bicycle paths at my place use a semi coarse variant which is fine and drains quite a bit of water.

Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#37

Post by chgs »

noja wrote: post #2

That’s good news, but why are the roads in the UK so bad to start with? Is it correct to say that roads are funded from a tax on fuel sales?

Pot jokes are typically on local roads. These are funded from councils.

Council income is from a property tax, “council tax” and “business rates”.

Councils have many spending commitments, my local council about 80% of income goes on “Adult Social Care”, which is basically paying for carers to go to wealthy old people and look after them because while they own a million pound house it would be unfair to expect them to pay for their own care.

That leave very little in the pot to pay for local services like bin collections, parks, libraries, and road maintenence.

Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#38

Post by davidwritesbugs »

jimnotgym wrote: post #10
noja wrote: post #2

That’s good news, but why are the roads in the UK so bad to start with? Is it correct to say that roads are funded from a tax on fuel sales?

The roads in England are terrible, the roads in the rest of the UK are far better. I live in England and commute to Wales, you can hear when you cross the border.

Agree. Live on Welsh/English border & this is a known phenomenon. Some rural Welsh roads are glorious.

Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#39

Post by UberFly »

"To make the self-healing bitumen, the researchers mixed in tiny porous plant spores soaked in recycled oils. When the road surface is compressed by passing traffic, it squeezes the spores, which release their oil into any nearby cracks. The oils soften the bitumen enough for it to flow and seal the cracks."

Are we really buying this?

Re: Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

#40

Post by consp »

picafrost wrote: post #14

> The material could be scaled up for use on British roads in a couple of years, the researchers believe. As per usual these optimistic solutions are inhibited by cost. All municipalities that I’ve lived in have ignored potholes until the complainants become a choir. It is always cheaper this way.

If you do not fill cracks in roads you get potholes. Lack of cheap maintenance causes expensive repairs and reduces the lifespan of a road. Typical shortsightedness.

If you see black lines in an asphalt road (which are not straight) the odds are good you have a municipality which does maintenance.

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