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The submitted URL was https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-those-dents-in-i-... but our software replaced it with https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-those-dents-in-i-... because that's what the page says is its canonical URL. I've reverted it now.
But the top comment at the /30 URL is not the actual answer either...
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If a Wikipedia page about a technological topic (so not a person, place etc) has a very few languages available (in this case 2) then it always makes me wonder how other countries in the World solve the same issue. This seems like a very US thing for example but maybe I’m wrong
In the Netherlands we don't use concrete plates. Just asphalt, usually the highly absorbent type. It wears very quickly and ice buildup damages it so it gets replaced a lot. But this is the advantage of a small country with many people. Good infrastructure.
It does rain a good amount in the populated parts of Australia so water shedding is one part, and resistance to temperature changes is another. The myths are true though, it does sometimes melt under high heat and heavy load.
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Yes, they do pay a use tax. As noted elsewhere in this thread, the tax is far too low to account for the damage caused by the weight of the truck.
People make the assumption that the roads aren’t designed with truck travel in mind methinks. The other option, making trucks pay their “fair share”, would just get passed along to consumers as higher prices and nothing would change. Like when fuel prices go up, truck drivers don’t eat those costs but they get a higher fuel surcharge which just gets accounted for when they’re pricing the goods on the grocery store sh…
Fatigue damage is the biggest problem. A heavy truck pushes down on the asphalt/concrete, flexing it. Eventually, it cracks and crumbles away. As mentioned elsewhere, fatigue damage goes up as the 4th power of the load.
Railroad tracks are made of steel, and steel flexes nicely without crumbling away. If you stand next to the tracks, you can feel the earth go down as the wheels pass. Steel rails with the load spread out with ties are an effective solution.
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Did you know that one of the very first uses of the first transcontinental railroad was shipping fresh California produce back east? And this was a century and a half ago.
They still do…depends on the shelf life of whatever they’re shipping.
A lot of fresh produce comes in by jet.
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If a Wikipedia page about a technological topic (so not a person, place etc) has a very few languages available (in this case 2) then it always makes me wonder how other countries in the World solve the same issue. This seems like a very US thing for example but maybe I’m wrong
In the Netherlands we don't use concrete plates. Just asphalt, usually the highly absorbent type. It wears very quickly and ice buildup damages it so it gets replaced a lot. But this is the advantage of a small country with many people. Good infrastructure.
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They still do…depends on the shelf life of whatever they’re shipping.
They used ice in the old days. Strawberries will last up to 6 days if you refrigerate them coming home from the store, I don't know how long that is since they were picked. A lot of fresh produce comes in by jet.
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People make the assumption that the roads aren’t designed with truck travel in mind methinks. The other option, making trucks pay their “fair share”, would just get passed along to consumers as higher prices and nothing would change. Like when fuel prices go up, truck drivers don’t eat those costs but they get a higher fuel surcharge which just gets accounted for when they’re pricing the goods on the grocery store sh…
> People make the assumption that the roads aren’t designed with truck travel in mind methinks. Fatigue damage is the biggest problem. A heavy truck pushes down on the asphalt/concrete, flexing it. Eventually, it cracks and crumbles away. As mentioned elsewhere, fatigue damage goes up as the 4th power of the load. Railroad tracks are made of steel, and steel flexes nicely without crumbling away. If you stand next to…
I had this job 20 ago delivering for one of the major grocery chains. Southern Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona were all covered out of a single warehouse in Phoenix. That place is a shitshow and that’s with them having a couple hundred docks to unload trucks, lucky to get out of there in seven hours. If they were unloading train cars I couldn’t even imagine how bad it would be. Or the local drivers wasting a whole shift after getting a container out of the train yard.
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Until now, I wasn't aware USA makes highways with concrete. As far as I know, in Poland vast majority of paved roads is made with asphalt, rarely bricks.
In Middle TN, at least, asphalt is coming back in favor. Apparently concrete doesn’t handle the freeze/thaw cycle very well, and is harder to repair than asphalt. In a side note, TN Department of Transportation recently experimented with a more porous asphalt variant on some major roadways, which was supposed to help with drainage. But in the winter, rain soaked deeper into the porous asphalt, causing much larger pot…
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If a Wikipedia page about a technological topic (so not a person, place etc) has a very few languages available (in this case 2) then it always makes me wonder how other countries in the World solve the same issue. This seems like a very US thing for example but maybe I’m wrong
The idea that there are "webs" I am simply not privvy too thanks to language excites me for some reason. Even down to those webs having all their own memes and cultural hotspots etc. The only other "web" I do have a small window into is the Japanese language web, thanks to importing cars and car parts, I have been learning Japanese. Web design there is incredibly different, and the approach to social forums like car…
All of this is super obvious but maybe someone that only speaks english is genuinely interested and hasn't thought about doing it regardless.