Some intersections are paved in concrete instead of asphalt

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 ā€œliveā€ surface. It is basically gravel and tar. When it gets hot and/or high loads are applied it moves. Concrete won’t. 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 doesn’t deform.

So… 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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That’s true for some of the intersections but not others. I traveled on the roads before renovation, didn’t notice problems with the asphalt. The roads were renovated for reasons other than repaving.

This doesn’t seem intersection-specific.

Concrete heats less, can be cheaper in hot climates when factoring in cooling costs.

The intersection only, not the roads? Doesn’t this happen to any road that isn’t maintained?

Yes but traffic isn’t crossing it at 90 degrees so you don’t notice it.

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High torque loads occur when stopping and starting don’t 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. I’d expect to see more wear just behind.

Yes. What’s the point? That it’s easier to patch asphalt because you can melt it? The ā€˜heat island’ effect is a significant problem; LBL dedicates a group to it. Concrete is one of the tactics to mitigate.

Weird. I’d think this would happen to any steep road. I’ve probably driven it: what is it? I wonder if concrete wouldn’t 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. I’ve definitely driven it but don’t remember.

There’s 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 requirements… (drum rollll)

It creates jobs!

I take it you live in the south. We don’t 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!

I’m in Connecticut, and my post-winter findings read exactly like yours - except for swapping the occurrences of the words ā€œasphaltā€ and ā€œconcreteā€. :wink: