What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
boards.straightdope.com
What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
1–10 of 137 posts
Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
#2I 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.
Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
#3A little funny to not link to the comment that had the answer — they're dowel bar retrofits.
Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
#4A little funny to not link to the comment that had the answer — they're dowel bar retrofits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowel_bar_retrofit
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
Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
#5A little funny to not link to the comment that had the answer — they're dowel bar retrofits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowel_bar_retrofit
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.
Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
#6A little funny to not link to the comment that had the answer — they're dowel bar retrofits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowel_bar_retrofit
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
There's one bit of jointed concrete road that I know of in the UK, a few miles where I live on the A90 near Laurencekirk.
It's bloody awful, like driving over smashed paving slabs. In my big old Range Rover with its off-road air suspension and massive reinforced tyres it's a noisy and uncomfortable couple of miles. In a modern vehicle with ultra-low profile tyres and incredibly stiff "sporty" suspension it must be like being rolled down a hill in old washing machine.
So yeah it's entirely possible that it's a very US thing, I've never seen it anywhere else.
Edit: here you can see a section, with repairs showing up as dark lines across it.
https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=55db8ed6-35d8-4916-82c3-14131...
Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
#7I 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.
Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
There's one bit of jointed concrete road that I know of in the UK, a few miles where I live on the A90 near Laurencekirk. It's bloody awful, like driving over smashed paving slabs. In my big old Range Rover with its off-road air suspension and massive reinforced tyres it's a noisy and uncomfortable couple of miles. In a modern vehicle with ultra-low profile tyres and incredibly stiff "sporty" suspension it must be li…
The US interstate moves insane numbers of huge ass-trucks that weight one billion metric pounds each or something.
Anything less than airport-grade concrete dies instantly, and then dies again when it invariably freezes to -40° Kelvin, because fuck physics when shit gets cold.
Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
#9A little funny to not link to the comment that had the answer — they're dowel bar retrofits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowel_bar_retrofit
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...
Re: What are those dents in I-90 outside Seattle?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's one bit of jointed concrete road that I know of in the UK, a few miles where I live on the A90 near Laurencekirk. It's bloody awful, like driving over smashed paving slabs. In my big old Range Rover with its off-road air suspension and massive reinforced tyres it's a noisy and uncomfortable couple of miles. In a modern vehicle with ultra-low profile tyres and incredibly stiff "sporty" suspension it must be li…
The US interstate moves insane numbers of huge ass-trucks that weight one billion metric pounds each or something. Anything less than airport-grade concrete dies instantly, and then dies again when it invariably freezes to -40° Kelvin, because fuck physics when shit gets cold.
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 decision is to try to replace the diesel trucks with electric ones, you know, for the environment. Far better for the environment would be to do away with long haul trucking and use freight trains instead, which are far more efficient. Trains also do not spread tire and brake dust all over the place, either.