The asphalt road has long become a familiar part of the modern landscape, which few people pay attention to. The network of roads stretched across almost the entire earth’s solid, improving the speed of communication between people. Observe, for example, how the road is paved. On the one hand, it is difficult to call such work high-tech. And on the other hand, knowledge of some of the nuances in the creation and operation of modern roads contributes not only to their strength and durability, but, in some cases, directly affects road safety.
A small digression into history
Asphalt has been known to our ancestors since ancient times. For example, the Dead Sea was called asphalt, and this name has been preserved almost to the present day. The deposits that were there were used not only for road construction, but also in shipbuilding and even mummification.
It is especially interesting to note the Spaniards, who drew attention to the excellent properties of the bituminous Lake Peach Lake on the island of Trinidad. Natural asphalt mined in this place is still popular all over the world. Scientists have estimated the needs of mankind that this lake can provide at about 400 years, but there are 15 more deposits. The first paved road can rightfully be considered the coating of the Royal Bridge of Paris. In its creation used a bitumen-mineral mixture. "Fashion" has reached Russia. So, in St. Petersburg several road sections were paved. But the Americans really turned around, starting in 1876.
Where does the road begin
In what sequence is the road paved? Of course, it all starts with planning and design. They take into account interaction with other roads, drainage systems, traffic lights, crossings and many more nuances.
Preparation
This is perhaps the most time-consuming and responsible operation of the process. The quality of the asphalt road directly depends on the correct decision-making and control over the implementation of preparatory work. According to their specifics, preparatory measures differ depending on environmental conditions. In the city, they may not be so labor-consuming, but outside the city there are options: cut down trees, studying the presence of groundwater and other factors. For example, if you do not take into account the occurrence of groundwater, then the asphalt road can be washed and a collapse will occur.
The process itself is as follows: depending on the terrain, add sand or, on the contrary, cut off excess soil with a bulldozer. The next most important moment is to give strength and hardness to the foundation for the road. There may be several options. Crushed stone with sand is added, and the fraction of crushed stone matters. Large crushed stone is used where a serious load on the road surface is expected, small crushed stone - on the contrary. Reinforced slabs can sometimes be used.
Side curbs serve several purposes at once: they fasten the roadbed, and are also a guideline when creating it. After filling the “pillow” of sand and gravel, it must be tamped. It is impossible to carry out such work through the sleeves, since the quality of the asphalt road depends on the strength of the foundation.
The moment of acceptance of work performed
And here comes one of the most important points - the acceptance of hot asphalt. The very foundation of the road is properly cleaned and spilled with hot bitumen, which is rubbed over the entire area. Arriving hot asphalt usually falls out in one pile and manually shovels evenly distributed over the entire area of future coverage. Following the road workers distributing asphalt, people come with an interesting tool that vaguely resembles a mop, or, as builders call it, a “mashka”. Their task is to level the paved asphalt as much as possible.
The final chord is the paver, which slowly but surely completes this production process. This is a description of the manual method of laying asphalt. There is a second, no less efficient, with the participation of two special road-laying machines. The first distributes asphalt, replacing all manual labor. The second is the paver, which, following the first, brings the work to its logical conclusion.
Some observations
Watch the roads asphalt. Sometimes you can see very interesting things. For example, when laying occurs in rain and severe frost. Because of this, the quality of asphalt deteriorates sharply, because it is impossible to do such work in bad weather.
Heavy trucks ruthlessly crash roads, especially in cities where the paved road is not designed for such a load.
And, as they say in medicine, prevention and prevention are better than long and exhausting treatment. This statement is true in relation to the rules of operation of the road surface.