Public enemy no. 1
They are the biggest enemy of a comfortable ride, be it on a bike, in a car, or in a bus. Every year, municipalities need to repair countless roads where this adversary apears. There are even mobile apps dedicated to their registration. They are …. the potholes.
The biggest question remains, what creates them. This article will try to solve the mistery. If some of the officials from a city will laugh at this, I challenge them to ensure that no pothole appears in their town for a full month. Just that.
Living earth
The first thing to know is that earth is a living thing. Continents move, tectonic plates go up and down, layers stretch or inflate do to various conditions. The apparently flat surface of a street is an illusion. Below the gray material we have tons of curious stuff:
- cubic pavement from another era (pre-WWII)
- sand
- gravel
- earth (that brown material)
- underground rivers and lakes
- small caves
- salt
- and much more
All the elements presented above share one quality: they can move in any direction, given the opportunity. And by that, the road above is left without the much necessary support. So, in a way, potholes appear because something has moved below. But, there is more to that.
Sudden changes in temperature, usually from day to night, can fracture the original surface in small patches. In time, these patches give way and convert into powder. Cars passing by have rubber tires, which prove to be the perfect match for that powder. The pothole is what lies beneath the road. Without protection, the hole grows bigger, because the curious stuff from the list likes to move.
The salt used for snow melting is also a factor that favors the patching. And in countries which experience hot summers and cold winters, salt is poored very generously over the snow.
Potholes don’t appear overnight. They are the result of the lack of maintenance. The bigger the town, the more streets it has, the bigger the surface of the road to cover and the figures add up. The best example of a town with virtually no pothole is Monte-Carlo / Monaco. Did you know that the Formula 1 GP is run over the streets of that town. No special race court, no special track.
Of course, the level of maintenance is very high and it is possible because of a relatively important budget. If Monaco were the size of Brussels, I doubt that there would be no potholes.
Images to come later ….
The Spline 