When the busy street just south of me was renovated the intersections were paved with concrete for the turning radius. The same happened in another busy intersection I used to travel through. The rest of the road is asphalt. I suspect this means that concrete wears less under turning wheels.
One of the roads is probably a lot busier than the other and has ruts worn in that direction.
Making the crossroad a very bumpy road when crossing the intersection, kind of like going over train tracks.
We have a few intersections where I live that should be concrete.
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Take notice of sections of asphalt near intersections where lots of trucks pass. Or on roads they drive. Ruts form due to the high tire loads of trucks. Weight loads and torque loads from the drive wheels deforms the surface of asphalt.
Asphalt is a āliveā surface. It is basically gravel and tar. When it gets hot and/or high loads are applied it moves. Concrete wonāt. This flexibility helps prevent cracking, surface breakup, is easy to lay down, easy to replace and it is quieter than concrete. Concrete will crack and it is noisier than asphalt, hard to replace but it doesnāt deform.
Soā¦ concrete for intersections and asphalt elsewhere especially in hot climates.
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There was a steep hill at a busy intersection near work. The asphalt was wrinkled due to heavy traffic, including lots of heavy trucks. The wrinkles were so tall that they were almost speed bumps.
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Thatās true for some of the intersections but not others. I traveled on the roads before renovation, didnāt notice problems with the asphalt. The roads were renovated for reasons other than repaving.
This doesnāt seem intersection-specific.
Concrete heats less, can be cheaper in hot climates when factoring in cooling costs.
The intersection only, not the roads? Doesnāt this happen to any road that isnāt maintained?
Yes but traffic isnāt crossing it at 90 degrees so you donāt notice it.
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High torque loads occur when stopping and starting donāt they?
But concrete does not melt and asphalt does.
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It was the road going down the hill to the intersection. About 50 feet of roadway was wrinkled.
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Good point: I was only thinking about the turning. The intersections to which I refer are concrete to about the stop line, so the start/stop torque starts on the asphalt, especially if cars are backed up. Iād expect to see more wear just behind.
Yes. Whatās the point? That itās easier to patch asphalt because you can melt it? The āheat islandā effect is a significant problem; LBL dedicates a group to it. Concrete is one of the tactics to mitigate.
Weird. Iād think this would happen to any steep road. Iāve probably driven it: what is it? I wonder if concrete wouldnāt work better.
West side of Powder Milll Road (eastbound) at the intersection with US 1 in Beltsville. The westbound lanes on the east side are also on a hill, but not as steep.
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Thanks. Iāve definitely driven it but donāt remember.
Thereās an Exxon station in the southeast corner. Immediately after crossing the intersection going east you drive on a bridge over railroad tracks.
And the #1 benefit of asphalt, due to more frequent maintenance requirementsā¦ (drum rollll)
It creates jobs!
I take it you live in the south. We donāt use concrete on roads or driveways here in the Northeast. Asphalt holds up a lot better than concrete with the thawing and freezing. Maintenance costs would easily increase 10-fold if our roads were made of Concrete
Au contraire, fellow New-Englander!
Iām in Connecticut, and my post-winter findings read exactly like yours - except for swapping the occurrences of the words āasphaltā and āconcreteā. 
So youāre saying Concrete holds up better in winter months in the Northeast then Asphalt does?
Here in CT it does, at least.
Bullsh*t. CT is the ONLY state in the Union where Concrete holds up well in colder weather.
Concrete cracks easily and road salt will damage it and extremely slippery when wet or with snow. Good for heavy loads as a base, but the top will be asphalt. Airports have been dealing with concrete for DECADES and they spend MILLIONS every year maintaining their concrete runways.
The new formulations of asphalt, designed to be more permeable, have trouble with freeze thaw cycles. They are getting much better but in the beginning, they broke down after only one season. I was a guinea pig for the Massachusetts testing along 95 for almost a decade. Lost three windshields in as many years because of itā¦
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Growing up in a small town in central NY where average snowfall is 5+ times then Boston - Asphalt is the ONLY substance used on roads. Concrete does NOT hold up. Asphalt roads in our town lasted DECADES. I grew up on a road right next to a major road used by truckers. That road was paved only ONCE from 1960 thru the mid 70ās. Road I grew up on was never paved for the years I lived there.