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What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

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Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#121

Post by djmips »

egberts1 wrote: post #38

Dowel Bar retrofit. Details on how to make a set of dowel-bar-retrofits. https://dot.ca.gov/programs/construction/construction-manual... Longitudinal grooving to achieve PIARC category of roughness and rolling resistance of an inverse to raised Cat’s-Eye and Botts’ Dots (“turtles” in Washington/Oregon, “buttons” in Texas). They are reflectorless, and are https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/pubs/hif17011.pdf Not to be c…

There was a video posted in the comments as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud5AdEPL16A

Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#122

Post by wkat4242 »

rocqua wrote: post #115
vasco wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then they limit you to 80km/h on any highways (even huge 5 lane ones) because of trying to fight emissions, instead of 120km/h as almost everywhere else. It's more frustrating than a few holes in the tarmac. I mean sure reduce emissions, but when you have private jets flying all the time and huge steel factories it's a bit frustrating to be told a motorcycle needs to stay at 80km/h to protect the environment.

The limit is 100kph during the day, and 130kph at night. The reason isn't so much emissions as it is a royal fuckup on all sides around nitrogen compounds and biodiversity. There are also a few cities where speed limits drop below a 100 when passing through. That is about health. Specifically noise and fine particles. None of this is about greenhouse gasses.

Well, technically nitrogen is also emissions. But yeah it's been so badly handled this whole thing. The whole country is at a standstill and the housing crisis is only accelerating.

Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#123

Post by wkat4242 »

Aqwis wrote: post #112
tda wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the best thing: new top layers are applied frequently (sometimes yearly). And they are literally applied overnight: construction starts at 23:00 and is completed before 06:00. And even better, the road isn't even closed. One night they pave the right lane and the next the left lane is paved. Complete road closures for maintenance are exceedingly rare. And if they happen, it will be at night and/or in the weekend.…

The difference between the quality of the infrastructure (esp. roads and rail) in the Netherlands and Belgium must surely be the most convincing testament to what a country loses from even relatively mild (from a worldwide point-of-view) levels of interethnic squabbling!

This is true lol. There is no need for signs at the border because you will know the second you enter Belgium :D

Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#124

Post by wkat4242 »

rocqua wrote: post #116
Aqwis wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between the quality of the infrastructure (esp. roads and rail) in the Netherlands and Belgium must surely be the most convincing testament to what a country loses from even relatively mild (from a worldwide point-of-view) levels of interethnic squabbling!

The massive amount of government money that has been earned from natural gas in the Netherlands also surely plays a role.

It's not just that, it's also a conceptual difference. Belgium is a tax haven compared to the Netherlands and there are whole towns made up of rich Dutch tax evaders just across the border. Less taxes, less money for infrastructure.

Funnily enough the Netherlands is also a tax haven but it's only for large megacorporations, not people. They wouldn't be based there at all if it wasn't for the tax benefits so they don't lose out by offering it, they just screw the rest of Europe over by allowing companies to evade taxes in the whole EU.

Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#125

Post by vasco »

rocqua wrote: post #115
vasco wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then they limit you to 80km/h on any highways (even huge 5 lane ones) because of trying to fight emissions, instead of 120km/h as almost everywhere else. It's more frustrating than a few holes in the tarmac. I mean sure reduce emissions, but when you have private jets flying all the time and huge steel factories it's a bit frustrating to be told a motorcycle needs to stay at 80km/h to protect the environment.

The limit is 100kph during the day, and 130kph at night. The reason isn't so much emissions as it is a royal fuckup on all sides around nitrogen compounds and biodiversity. There are also a few cities where speed limits drop below a 100 when passing through. That is about health. Specifically noise and fine particles. None of this is about greenhouse gasses.

You'll find zero references to greenhouse gasses in my comment.

Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#126

Post by mostertoaster »

Oh my goodness if you have an older car that isnt as quiet as new cars, driving in that right lane along that stretch is the worst, with the constant noise from it. I drive in the left lane until I see someone getting close to me then I get in the right lane till they pass and then switch back to the left lane.

Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#127

Post by sfpotter »

nemo44x wrote: post #42
WalterBright wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason for the interstate trucks is the taxation system that punishes railroads for owning their right-of-way. The trucks cause by far the most damage to the highways, but taxpayers subsidize that with the gas tax. Trucks also do not pay property tax on the highways. Long haul freight should be done by loading the semi's trailer onto a flat car, and picking it up near the destination. Another myopic government de…

The USA has possibly the best freight rail system in the world and it’s used extensively. Trucks pay a ton of tolls, licenses, and fuel tax.

In what sense does the US have the best freight rail system in the world? Not trying to be antagonistic, here---just want to know why you think this.

Regarding your other comment ("trucks get the goods where they have to go"): in other countries, such as Switzerland, many buildings (think an Ikea store) are required to be reachable by rail, in which case regional trains can deliver goods to a hub, and then local trains can take goods from the hub to the store. No need for trucks in this case.

Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#128

Post by sfpotter »

UncleEntity wrote: post #107
WalterBright wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

The main issue, I think, is the entire economy would have to be changed on a massive, global scale. 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 unload…

Unloading trains is actually very efficient. If you have a train yard with many trains lined up next to each other and with box cars aligned, you can easily carry goods from train to train, through the box cars. This is far more space efficient than the huge parking lot which is needed to accommodate the wide turns that trucks have to make in order back up to a delivery zone.

I also don't see why it would be necessary to revamp the global economy to start using trains more.

Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#129

Post by julianlam »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #7
modeless wrote: post #2

I haven't seen these in a decade but I knew what they were talking about instantly. I used to wonder what they were all the time. I sure didn't expect to get an answer randomly on the HN front page. They did a really good job installing these. They look like they would be bumpy but I never felt them at all.

Similarly, I'm always impressed by how smooth the ashpalt highways in Toronto are, even though they are spiderwebbed with cracks absolutely everywhere. That's because the cracks are filled each spring with some sort of sealant. They make a regular slapping sound as the tires pass over them, but cannot be felt.

It's funny how other commenters on HN are telling you what it probably is, even though they might not live in Toronto.

To my knowledge, it isn't any special application of product. It's literally cheap asphalt they pour on top of cracks and potholes and pound it down lightly. The reason why it's surprisingly smooth is because a thousand plus cars have driven over it, flattening it down to road level.

> "Crews place asphalt and rake it into the pothole. Then they tamp down the asphalt and smooth it out until the road surface is improved. The job takes 15-20 minutes."

They do this because it is literally impossible to get to all of the potholes in spring. Want some neat stats?

https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-tra...

Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?

#130

Post by sfpotter »

UncleEntity wrote: post #81
WalterBright wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why move the freight by rail.

They move a bunch of freight by rail, nobody wants to pay someone a bunch of money to drive it when they can just throw it on a train. And trains are relatively time inefficient so people in Maine couldn’t have their fresh Californian strawberries a couple days after they are plucked out of the field. Maybe people don’t deserve to have fresh produce but that’s another discussion altogether.

Uh, who doesn't deserve to have fresh produce??
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