[viXit]

Runways in airports are all asphalt. Ever wondered why?

They don't face the potholes and ruts that we face on our daily streets!

And the load that they are subjected to with tonnes and tonnes of load when aircraft land on it is tremendous!
The reason they don't fail is quality!

Yes they require maintenance but not as much as out streets do.

It all comes down to terrible quality and corruption In every department where people cheap out on material and lay roads of terrible quality and have stupid patches of ups and downs that throw our cars out of balance and jarr our bones.

The only concrete roads I'd drive on, are the smooth kind, the ones we find inside gated communities.

The rough kind is a royal pain to drive on!
Endless noise and vibrations! Our government seems to be taking the easy way out and laying concrete everywhere the roads can get flooded, instead of coming up with better paving techniques.

I'm not speaking out of my bum, I've learnt all that I did from my uncle, who's an engineer with the govt. Responsible for having laid down many roads in the state.

[tedha_ant]

Originally Posted by handsofsteel

One very big advantage of concrete roads. You can't simply dig it up and build a shoddy speed breaker overnight.
Even the rumbler strips wear out soon

Man, I hate those bumps more than anything on the road!

Why are they called speedbreakers? They should be called 'Jolters' or 'suspension breakers' because many are unmarked and if you don't spot them, oh... man, you are in for a nasty surprise!

Even 'chassis scrappers' would work since my gen 2 Dzire scrapes on many of these "speedbreakers" if I'm anything over 20kmph.

[Torquila]

I own a Honda City 4th Gen which comes with stiff suspension (especially at city speeds). I often drive (twice a month on average) from Sonipat - Delhi - Noida - Agra - Lucknow. This stretch is primarily an expressway wherein you can easily maintain tripe digit speeds without the need for braking.

The road from Sonipat - Delhi - Noida - Agra (Noida-Agra is the Yamuna / Taj expressway) and is a pain honestly. Its bumpy even at 120KMPH and lot of road noise creeps in. The moment you slide up the Agra-Lucknow expressway, what a difference!!! The road is constructed with class-1 asphalt and is butter smooth. The ride is super smooth, enjoyable and I love to push the car.

[sreenivass]

Originally Posted by viXit

Runways in airports are all asphalt. Ever wondered why?

...........................
I'm not speaking out of my bum, I've learnt all that I did from my uncle, who's an engineer with the govt. Responsible for having laid down many roads in the state.

Is it possible to lay concrete ones below for long term and add asphalt layers on top at a later time when the concrete surface deteriorates? Does it work well.

[commonman]

In my experience , concrete roads don't show kindness to tires . I somehow feel tire wear is more on concrete roads compared to asphalt. The same goes with noise. High speed drive on concrete is really noisy compared to bitumen surface. I had also felt more comfortable ( less jerky) and more confident on good asphalt roads. The only positive I see with concrete roads are that they are long lasting. This can also be done for asphalt roads, if the right methodology is used . The best idea is to have both, like concrete roads where water inundation happens and asphalt roads everywhere else.

[lambodara]

West Bengal is in love with stone-asphalt. Absolute nightmare and the worst part is public does not mind !

[mmxylorider]

From looks perspective, there is nothing that beats a nicely paved winding blacktop with yellow/while lane markings and a landscape which is not urban. This same road with cat-eye reflectors and (hopefully) luminescent lane paint is quite beautiful at night when your lights hit the road.

That would be the preference where available. From India perspective, I will go with concrete for the reason that the percentage of my attention watching out for potholes and road issues can be diverted to driving and being situationally aware. In addition, concrete roads prevent people from laying their pipes etc across the street which is easier for a non-concrete road. Also, the ease of digging holes for the pandals during festive season is not as easy. One of the biggest issues I face is the glare when you driving towards the sun - quite bad despite sunglasses and higher risk of accidents if other vehicles are not careful.

[Jeep]

Voted for asphalt for their superior grip and comfort. However, would prefer concrete in towns and cities and asphalt on highways.

There is a section of M25 outside of west London that's made of concrete. The noise and ride are terrible. Also, if you don't drive above 60 or 65 mph, the expansion joints make the ride even louder!

[glovins2004]

Apart from all the scientific and economic differences, its Asphalt any day for me. Drivers delight NH7

[1985Darkkid85]

Voted for Asphalt Roads.

Not really an expert on these matters, but i understand concrete roads are hard on your tires and also the ride quality suffers (read:bumpy).

Especially on a loaded hatch like mine which can seat 4 at max, i have been being bounced about like a trampoline.

P.S: I experience this phenomena regularly on the NICE roads, which i take to connect into Mysore road from my South Bengaluru home.

[subuiyer]

Voted for concrete
(We Mumbaikars have had it with potholed asphalts)

From a driver's perspective, driving on concrete roads in india needs some adjustments because of:
Under tired vehicles
Overloaded vehicles
Seasonal high surface temperatures
Badly constructed joints and edges
Bad or non existent drainage

In addition, catering to our sub tropical weather with high rainfall in many places, most of our concrete highways are extremely ribbed for grip (than say in the US, where the interstate surfaces are designed for relatively smoother, but not necessarily offering less grip). This pattern, forcing constant compression and expansion of air within, causes the tires to heat up rapidly and more likely to cause tire failure. A prime example is Mum-Pun exp way.

[smooth indian]

Voted for concrete. All mumbaikars will attest to the evergoing scam on indian roads that is asphalt. A lot of forumers have correctly pointed out the pros and cons of both asphalt and concrete roads. However, given the shoddy work that often comes with a asphalt road, a concrete road is an easy choice for city roads particularly the busy ones. A durable if not smooth surface is preferable to one which is likely to crumble after a few heavy showers.

Originally Posted by Ragul

IIRC I've driven on sections where the concrete is overlaid with a thin layer of asphalt - it is a heavenly experience compared to driving on concrete. Why I believe this was a layer of asphalt topping is that sections had work-off to reveal the concrete below.


If the asphalt layering approach can be adopted all over it would dramatically improve user experience at lower cost than a fully asphalt road I imagine.

Originally Posted by neel@makrand

Why can't we put a thin layer of asphalt on top of concrete toads. An inch or two of asphalt could smoothen the ride. Just thought. Apart from extra cost I don't see any flipside to this.Am I right?If not, would like to be corrected.

There exist such a thing as a hybrid pavement wherein a concrete pavement is topped or carpetted with a few inches of asphalt. This combines the durability of the concrete pavement with the smooth finishing and ride quality of asphalt. A number of city streets in the eastern/mid-western USA as well as interstate highways have asphalt carpeting over concrete.
In India the two examples that I can list are the Marine Drive in Mumbai and JM road in Pune. The marine drive was repaired by scrapping the top thin concrete finishing and replacing it with a smooth topping of mastic asphalt; In this black topped over white avatar the marine drive is a smooth pleasurable motorists paradise. Previously this surface was marked with a some roughness due to shifting of the concrete blocks.

Originally Posted by subuiyer

Voted for concrete
(We Mumbaikars have had it with potholed asphalts)

From a driver's perspective, driving on concrete roads in india needs some adjustments because of:
Under tired vehicles
Overloaded vehicles
Seasonal high surface temperatures
Badly constructed joints and edges
Bad or non existent drainage

In addition, catering to our sub tropical weather with high rainfall in many places, most of our concrete highways are extremely ribbed for grip (than say in the US, where the interstate surfaces are designed for relatively smoother, but not necessarily offering less grip). This pattern, forcing constant compression and expansion of air within, causes the tires to heat up rapidly and more likely to cause tire failure. A prime example is Mum-Pun exp way.

- All the concrete roads in Mumbai and other cities should gradually be carpeted with asphalt layers to improve the ride quality.
- If asphalt is the paving material then the base layers can be strengthened by addition of cement and other binders to the gravel. This will likely reduce early disintegration of the road die to rains.
- I have seen examples of asphalt laid over brick lined streets. The streets I witnessed seems to cope well with medium traffic and extreme cold weather. Perhaps in India the side streets, bylanes and local urban roads can have asphalt paved over interlocking paver blocks. Experts on this forum can educate us if such a combination is workable in India.

[Kannan]

Asphalt vs concrete is kind of a mute discussion with reasons like avoiding deliberate relaying by corrupt contractors vs handling heavy loads vs longevity.

I prefer asphalt to concrete. But again I guess it's road laying techniques I believe should provide a difference in tyre noise and grip.

For example, when I used to drive to Manayata in Bengaluru after the white topping was completed, it was relatively smooth. But the concrete road between Coimbatore and Pollachi produces more tyre noise, so I guess maybe there is some technique which can provide a better experience.

Also when I use to live in Tambaram there is a road called a camp road. This road was built with part concrete and part stones or asphalt am not sure. My friend who was born and brought up there said that that road is almost 35 years old. In the last 10 years, that road was filled with potholes, no matter what kind of patch up was done, those patch-ups will be gone in less than a week and the experience was horrible.

I prefer a smooth asphalt with lesser tyre noise, but with heavy trucks piling around and these nexus between contractors and state government to keep laying road every few years, I guess concrete is the way to go. Maybe future tyres like Uptis from Michelin can reduce those tyre noises. Still no clue on how to handle the lesser traction with concrete roads.

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by smooth indian

There exist such a thing as a hybrid pavement wherein a concrete pavement is topped or carpetted with a few inches of asphalt. This combines the durability of the concrete pavement with the smooth finishing and ride quality of asphalt. A number of city streets in the eastern/mid-western USA as well as interstate highways have asphalt carpeting over concrete.
In India the two examples that I can list are the Marine Drive in Mumbai and JM road in Pune. The marine drive was repaired by scrapping the top thin concrete finishing and replacing it with a smooth topping of mastic asphalt; In this black topped over white avatar the marine drive is a smooth pleasurable motorists paradise. Previously this surface was marked with a some roughness due to shifting of the concrete blocks.

Good to know it is a well known technology. Yes Marine drive is one place I remember having this magic carpet like ride!

[ph03n!x]

I never liked concrete roads because of the unevenness and tyre noise.

But I hate them after 23rd Sep 2012 - the day Sam's Land Rover met with an accident in the Pune - Mumbai expressway due to a tyre burst. I was sure that it wouldn't have happened on asphalt.

Everytime I end up on a concrete stretch, all I can remember is Sam Kapasi.