ok someone help me understand why in the world they would lay asphalt on beltway 8 between 290 and 249? the highway is not old and the concrete was in good shape. not to mention how many people now have chips in their windows from a shoddy clean-up job. is there a real purpose for this other than trying to perpetuate the illusion that they aren't making money hand over fist on that damn highway?

Its been said before (by people involved in roadway engineering) that concrete+asphalt lasts longer and is easier to refurbish than concrete by itself.

They have big machines that can literally drive along, strip the old asphalt off, and follow it with another machine that lays down a new base of hotmix...very easy to resurface after it wears, and repair temporarily with patches.

you missed the thread on this a couple weeks ago

to piss you off

7nine has the right answer so far as far as i'm concerned

http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=38&topic_id=1417511

Ya know, if you are going to say "someone please explain to me why ____" and then continue to vent afterwards, could you kindly just not involve us in your pissing and moaning?

Just say it to yourself, or type it out... and then delete it.

Thanks

It is for reducing noise in Jersey Village, nothing more nothing less.

There was a story about this on 11 News last night. The main reason is safety. The new asphalt is a special kind that absorbs water on the road (not that we've had much to speak of lately). This stretch of the beltway was chosen due to the amount of wrecks in this area (I was actually involved in a wreck exiting the beltway to 249 North two months ago but water did not play a part in it).

This asphalt has been used in areas of Austin with some success reducing the number of accidents in those areas although the roads did not hold up that well and required maintenance after a few years. They supposedly have made some adjustments to the asphalt they are putting on the beltway that should make it hold up for 15 years.

Noise reduction was also mentioned on the news but the primary reason was safety.


Here's the link to the story:

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou090610_tnt_pfc-pavement-toll-road.698724dc.html

[This message has been edited by 97porche (edited 6/11/2009 9:50a).]

[This message has been edited by 97porche (edited 6/11/2009 9:51a).]

That is incorrect... the main reason was noise reduction. HCTRA spent alot of money on a noise-reduction study that is linked to on their website. One of the top recommendations to reduce the noise in this area was an asphalt overlay.

Safety has nothing to do with why this was done.

EDIT... I guess I should have read the link first... I was told by an unnamed person at HCTRA that this is why the noise study was done. They may be spinning this now to be safety-oriented first, but I'm telling you, the underlying reason was the noise reduction for Jersey Village (they may not want to open a Pandora's Box by promoting the fact that they will do these overlays all over the system for noise reduction)

[This message has been edited by Anagrammatic Nudist (edited 6/11/2009 10:57a).]

Here's the site that has a link to the PDF of the noise report done from US 290 to SH 249. Notice the recommendation section and how the asphalt overlay was (is) expected to reduce the ambient noise by the acceptable threshhold.

https://www.hctra.org/about_reports/

^
|
|

You'll have to copy and paste the URL into your browser window since the prefix is "https"... sorry for the inconvenience.

They did mention at the end of the video that the nearby neighborhoods do like it better because the asphalt is quieter than the concrete pavement.

Yeah, the more I think about this, the more I am believing that they wanted to try to kill two birds with one stone (noise and safety). But they're certainly not going to promote the noise benefits greatly because, like I said above, this would (will) lead to other Tollway bordering communities wanting the same thing for their neighborhood.

im just gald theyre done with the portion in my neck of the woods. driving on the uneven lanes was getting annoying... now its nice and smoooooth.

It's definitely smooth now, and actually quite stress-reducing to drive on since the in-vehicle noise is greatly reduced as well.

However, with the ADT on the Tollway in this section (or any section) an asphalt overlay in this climate might survive two, maybe three summers tops. The rutting by the end of next summer will be noticeable, I guarantee it.