[Weasel]

Not sure if this is the right section

Reading recently more about the rising prices of asphalt, what are any viable alternatives to asphalt in road construction?

Another question, can asphalt be recycled? Would it be possible to tear up unused roads (or airstrips ) and reuse the asphalt somehow for more important areas?

Thanks for some enlightenment.

[KingM]

Concrete, or, more technically, non-bituminous concrete, since asphalt is technically a concrete with bituminous materials replacing cement as a binder.

[NeoPeasant]

I have read that asphalt is the world's most recyled material.

There won't be much need for additional roads or airstrips anyway. We will be turning our attention to maintaining what we still need and abandoning what we don't.

[socrates1fan]

I've heard of tearing up asphalt and grinding it up but that requires a lot of power.
A few solutions to reduce need of asphalt.
Try to use things like concrete or even brick more. As the price of asphalt gets higher road maintenance will be harder.
Unfortunately concrete requires a lot of maintenance and brick does but not as much as concrete which cracks and crumbles.
The thing is, there is really no replacement for asphalt that is of as high quality and strength.
We can try to bear things like gravel or dirt roads more so and try to fill pot holes with concrete or gravel for now.
The expense of asphalt affects the ways of taking goods from point A to point B.
Semis and trucks can travel down roads covered in potholes or country roads. If it costs more for maintenance of trucks it will cuase not only food prices but store items in general to go up in price.
The US government needs to address this problem before highways and roads become covered with potholes.

[emersonbiggins]

Concrete is phenomenally more expensive than asphalt, and there's no reason to think that would change anytime soon, despite asphalt prices running up at twice the rate of concrete right now.

Reed (great site for construction cost data)

^^^ Definitely check that site out. About the only product going down in price is lumber, due to the housing bust. Wooden roads, anyone?

[Fishman]

"The US government needs to address this problem, " thinking does not work anymore.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('socrates1fan', '
')[s]The US government[/s]Truckers needs to address this problem before highways and roads become covered with potholes.

[Dreamtwister]

I think we just discovered the next big black market item: used asphalt!

I wonder how long it will be until the guys with broken noses start showing up in small towns in the middle of the night and ripping Main Street out...

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('socrates1fan', '
')[s]The US government[/s]Truckers needs to address this problem before highways and roads become covered with potholes.

[Starvid]

In warm countries like Greece they don't use asphalt as the stuff melts and the oil seeps out of it and gets onto the road. Gets very slippery.

So they use concrete instead. If contemporary Greeks and 1930's Germans could afford concrete highways, anyone civilized can.

[Denny]

I am not sure how much displacement there is of the petroleum content in glasphalt, but check this out, NY Times - Glasphalt

A great use for the surplus glass that is over and above the recycling demand.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'I')f contemporary Greeks and 1930's Germans could afford concrete highways, anyone civilized can.

[Starvid]

I didn't talk about about ancient Greeks, I talked about Greece today. They, the poorest people in EU-15, afford concrete roads.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'I') didn't talk about about ancient Greeks, I talked about Greece today. They, the poorest people in EU-15, afford concrete roads.

[Starvid]

So what?

The American people has been looted by the superrich for the last 30 years. That's the big financing issue, not expensive oil. Just take the money back from the top 0,1 % and you can finance any number of anythings.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'S')o what?

The American people has been looted by the superrich for the last 30 years. That's the big financing issue, not expensive oil. Just take the money back from the top 0,1 % and you can finance any number of anythings.

[Revi]

I think that there will be fewer really well paved roads. There already are. They are neglecting the back roads, whaich means that they will have to be rebuilt, which won't happen. About 10 years of neglect and those roads will be basically dirt, anyway. Downtowns and the main roads will be maintained, but the vast majority of asphalt roads will fall into disrepair.

You won't need a smooth road to drive an oxcart anyway.

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'S')o what?

The American people has been looted by the superrich for the last 30 years. That's the big financing issue, not expensive oil. Just take the money back from the top 0,1 % and you can finance any number of anythings.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', '.')..
The lowest 25-percentile pay almost no taxes net of payments they receive from the government. The bottom 50-percentile hardly pay any taxes net other than sales taxes. The next 25-percentile certainly pays its fair share of all taxes. But it is the top 25-percentile that pay the most taxes, while receiving the smallest benefit in terms of services or payments from the government in return.
...