tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post5763779316547844788..comments2024-02-01T04:37:41.878-05:00Comments on Cap'n Transit Rides Again: Our expensive cheap roadsCap'n Transithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17057887736728828646noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-38587133348023803842011-11-16T13:10:58.654-05:002011-11-16T13:10:58.654-05:00"They were mostly constructed out of compacte..."<i>They were mostly constructed out of compacted dirt with a layer of asphalt on top, unlike the German Autobahn which was asphalt on concrete.</i>"<br /><br />Huh? I'm not a civil engineer and far from an expert, but I've watched road construction, and I always seem to see concrete poured onto big layers of rebar. Local DOTs only top coat with asphalt for maintenance if the underlying concrete foundation is still in good shape -- otherwise it's time to rip it all out and start over.<br /><br />I suspect traffic volume is the bigger factor. 100,000 cars per day is considered a big number on the German Autobahn. I-5 through California only drops down below 100,000 vehicles per day when you get out into the lightly traveled rural portions of the Central Valley and northern California.Yokota Fritzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04808661100114872654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-74449273936738250192011-11-16T10:27:31.663-05:002011-11-16T10:27:31.663-05:00While you are absolutely correct in that the rail-...While you are absolutely correct in that the rail-road freight shift caused the decline of the great freight railroads, with the onset of containerization a substantial shift occurred in the American freight rail business. Our railroads are now our bulk freight transcontinental distribution network, due to containerization. In Europe, by contrast, maritime was always that, and only now are enough unification conditions (euro, Schengen, etc.) in play that a similar bulk distribution system can become viable. It's partly for this reason that European freight rail has been historically passenger-oriented (the other major reason: the carriers were all nationalized during the 20th century).Steve Stofkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14825368520377993845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-38498281770890766722011-11-16T08:14:12.193-05:002011-11-16T08:14:12.193-05:00Yeah, their highways seem to be built to a much mo...Yeah, their highways seem to be built to a much more highly-engineered level than ours are, designed with a more holistic approach. Their motorways amazingly seem to be flatter and have shallower curves, with fewer surprises popping up. American highways seem like they were designed 1000 feet at a time.<br /><br />15 years ago, I saw electronic speed signage and special markers along the edge of highways in Germany that would light up in the event of an incident up ahead. That sort of thing has been slowly appearing here, but still nowhere near to the same extent as what I saw across the pond.<br /><br />However, I think there's a big point that can undermine this argument -- European freight rail traffic is pretty minimal. Much of their freight moves by road too (though they still use waterways to move a lot of freight, something that is pretty minimal within the U.S.).Mike Hickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15257599090818492294noreply@blogger.com