top | item 47161550

(no title)

deepsun | 4 days ago

Thank you. What about concrete pavements? I assume they can last longer, but I often see badly cracked concrete. Regular (expansion?) cracks also don't increase riding comfort.

discuss

order

GorbachevyChase|2 days ago

Welcome! Concrete pavements should (but often don’t) last much longer. They are much thicker than asphalt pavements though. The asphalt section of flexible pavement on the street by your house might only be two or 3 inches thick. Plain concrete would be no less than 6. Cracking is inevitable because concrete is brittle andhas a surprising amount of thermal expansion. The longevity of the concrete can be improved with steel reinforcement, and that’s typical for interstate pavement design. One typical pattern in Texas is to have cement stabilized soil base and an asphalt bond breaker between it and the continuously reinforced concrete pavement you see on the surface.