Why are Britain's roads melting? - BBC explains - Polidicks

[B]Police closed part of the M25 after a road surface melted during the heatwave on Sunday. But at what temperature do roads melt? [/B][URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23315384[/URL]

Our roads don't melt, just saying. They might want to look into the roads we have or something, change up the formula

[QUOTE=Pyth;41472828]Our roads don't melt, just saying. They might want to look into the roads we have or something, change up the formula[/QUOTE] [quote]Robinson says following a heatwave in 1995, the road industry introduced a new asphalt specification allowing asphalt surfacings to be made using polymer modified binders - which raises the softening point of the asphalt to around 80C. But this type of tarmac is relatively expensive and generally only used on heavy-traffic roads. Robinson estimates probably less than 5% of all the UK's road surfaces contain polymer modified asphalt.[/quote] Too expensive

For those who dont read the source (like above Pyth) The roads "soften" - not melt - at 50*C but since that number is measured in the shade, its actually much lower. There is a new type of pavement used in high-traffic areas which raises the "soften" point to 80*c but that is used on only 5% of all roads in the UK. They also are more worried about the coldness breaking the roads than the heat melting them. Aka - your roads get soft at high temperatures. This happens in the US too where there is considerable shifts between winter and summer. Pavement that is laid in Florida is not the same laid in Minnesota or other northern states which have dramatic shifts in the weather.

[QUOTE=matt.ant;41472793][B]Police closed part of the M25 after a road surface melted during the heatwave on Sunday. But at what temperature do roads melt? [/B][URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23315384[/URL][/QUOTE] stop posting these articles theyre all shit and just create a shitstorm of shitposts [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Why reply?" - SteveUK))[/highlight]

I'm curious. If in a relatively mild country like the UK road surfaces reach 50C What kind of temperature does the ground reach in parts of the world where the air temperature exceeds, say 42C?

So does the United States have this expensive asphalt everywhere?

"Why are Britain's roads melting?" It's fucking hot.

[QUOTE=Pantz Master;41473041]So does the United States have this expensive asphalt everywhere?[/QUOTE] No.

[QUOTE=Pantz Master;41473041]So does the United States have this expensive asphalt everywhere?[/QUOTE] If you read the entire article it explains this. Not directly but it is explained. Its not exactly about cost, if that tarmac was laid everywhere here it would destroy it self in a usual British winter which is much worse than a minor disruption in a major heatwave. areolop explains it a bit better in his post, go read that if you haven't.

[QUOTE=Pyth;41472828]Our roads don't melt, just saying.[/QUOTE] [url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2179352/The-U-S-literally-buckling-heat-roads-melt-rails-bend-extreme-weather.html]The U.S. buckles under the heat as roads melt and rails bend in extreme weather[/url] - 26 July 2012

[QUOTE=Pyth;41472828]Our roads don't melt, just saying. They might want to look into the roads we have or something, change up the formula[/QUOTE] passive dick waving from america

Do what France does. They find out what route the Tour de France is taking, dig them up and resurface them in time for the event. There's a Tour of Britain we can base it on. I go to the South of France every year, and I can tell you now, the roads are still silky smooth after travelling on them for the last 4 years, no sign of a pothole that's been filled in anywhere. Whatever formula they're using, we have to ask very nicely if we can use it too.

[QUOTE=smurfy;41473313][url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2179352/The-U-S-literally-buckling-heat-roads-melt-rails-bend-extreme-weather.html]The U.S. buckles under the heat as roads melt and rails bend in extreme weather[/url] - 26 July 2012[/QUOTE]It was 42C in Minnesota in July. No roads melted, though the people did. We were all like fat, plastic army men, completely at the mercy of the sun's hatred for our kind.

Australian roads seem to hold up really well in the heat. No idea why though.

[QUOTE=Tomthetechy;41473051]"Why are Britain's roads melting?" It's fucking hot.[/QUOTE] Kinda. [IMG]http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m598/Awike1991/meh_zps84f5a3f0.png[/IMG] London is 6 degrees of Latitude, or ~400 miles, North of me. Actually that's pretty warm for that far north.

[QUOTE=Superwafflez;41473709]Australian roads seem to hold up really well in the heat. No idea why though.[/QUOTE] We convicts know how to make great roads.

[QUOTE=Superwafflez;41473709]Australian roads seem to hold up really well in the heat. No idea why though.[/QUOTE] Prolly a different mix that would literally explode all over the place if it ever got cold. The problem with northern roads is that they have to be able to take long periods of frost [I]and[/I] moderate-high levels of heat.

[QUOTE=Riller;41473903]Prolly a different mix that would literally explode all over the place if it ever got cold. The problem with northern roads is that they have to be able to take long periods of frost [I]and[/I] moderate-high levels of heat.[/QUOTE] Some of the roads in my town are all cracked and full of potholes I'd rather have dirt roads tbh

[QUOTE=JoonazL;41474153]Some of the roads in my town are all cracked and full of potholes I'd rather have dirt roads tbh[/QUOTE] Problem with dirt roads is that they're really, really shit for everything not four-wheeled. Or going more than 30 km/h.

-snip- misinterpreted a post.

[QUOTE=Riller;41473903]Prolly a different mix that would literally explode all over the place if it ever got cold. The problem with northern roads is that they have to be able to take long periods of frost [I]and[/I] moderate-high levels of heat.[/QUOTE] Actually, most places go from extreme heat to extreme cold depending on the season.

[QUOTE=Riller;41474168]Problem with dirt roads is that they're really, really shit for everything not four-wheeled. Or going more than 30 km/h.[/QUOTE] Plus you have to re-grate them at least twice a year. Winter is fucking scary as shit on dirt roads too. If you don't have enough money to re-grate them every so often they will literally become undrivable, unless you don't mind doing 5mp/h.

[QUOTE=Tomthetechy;41473051]"Why are Britain's roads melting?" It's fucking hot.[/QUOTE] It's hotter than they imagined for a longer peroid of time. It's not really the "fucking hot" part but more so that nobody expected this. Can't really fault anyone, roads were built for expected conditions for a reasonable amount of money, the article states that itself with the polymer enhanced asphalt. It's just odball weather this year that's causing this, not so much heat directly. But this is going to become standard weather, so on the bright side, more roads are going to be relaid and upgraded. Then again, considering how the roadworks in the UK usually are that might not be a good thing.

[QUOTE=Riller;41474168]Problem with dirt roads is that they're really, really shit for everything not four-wheeled. Or going more than 30 km/h.[/QUOTE] Meh, I like dirt roads. I do have a street legal enduro bike as my means of transportation though.

[QUOTE=Superwafflez;41473709]Australian roads seem to hold up really well in the heat. No idea why though.[/QUOTE] go to the victorian alps in the middle of summer and say that

Exactly what I mentioned in the other thread - simply a different mix for the asphalt than typical. Most people have no idea how complex it can be to get an asphalt mix correct based on how many factors go into it. The perfect mix for the climate and location can be rendered useless from something as simple as an excessively steep slope... It has nothing to do with the quality of work or product they're using, it's just a case of their ideal mix only covering 95% of the possible climate conditions - 'extreme' heat is one of those far off possibilities they had to take a gamble on. The mix they use seems otherwise perfect in the typical year-round climate conditions though, so regardless I say they did a good job.

[QUOTE=Memobot;41473595]Do what France does. They find out what route the Tour de France is taking, dig them up and resurface them in time for the event. There's a Tour of Britain we can base it on. I go to the South of France every year, and I can tell you now, the roads are still silky smooth after travelling on them for the last 4 years, no sign of a pothole that's been filled in anywhere. Whatever formula they're using, we have to ask very nicely if we can use it too.[/QUOTE] They did this for the Olympics here (in Surrey), they tore up and resurfaced a road that had been needing it doing for years. I think its a great idea.

Is it just the tar that's becoming all gooey and sticky? That shit sucks when used on roads

[QUOTE=smurfy;41473313][url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2179352/The-U-S-literally-buckling-heat-roads-melt-rails-bend-extreme-weather.html]The U.S. buckles under the heat as roads melt and rails bend in extreme weather[/url] - 26 July 2012[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]as it melted under 100-degree weather[/QUOTE]