Potholes as Traffic Control Devices

Potholes only damage cars if you hit them if you're going fast. If you
cross them at 5 mph they do nothing. Besides, they help drainage out,
too.

Johann Fitzgerald wrote:
> Potholes only damage cars if you hit them if you're going fast. If you
> cross them at 5 mph they do nothing. Besides, they help drainage out,
> too.

Since they cost nothing to construct they are highly cost efficient.

On 11 Jun 2005 14:04:11 -0700, in misc.transport.road "Johann
Fitzgerald" > wrote:

>Potholes only damage cars if you hit them if you're going fast. If you
>cross them at 5 mph they do nothing. Besides, they help drainage out,
>too.

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyli...rbee134875.jpg

"I don't look at myself as a basketball coach;
I look at myself as a leader who happens to coach
basketball."--Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University head
basketball coach

"I really don't think that it's a job of a high school
coach to produce college players, and I don't think
that it's the college coach's job to produce
professional players."--Kirk Ferentz,
University of Iowa head football coach

Archie Leach wrote:
> On 11 Jun 2005 14:04:11 -0700, in misc.transport.road "Johann
> Fitzgerald" > wrote:
>
> >Potholes only damage cars if you hit them if you're going fast. If you
> >cross them at 5 mph they do nothing. Besides, they help drainage out,
> >too.
>
> http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyli...rbee134875.jpg
>
> "I don't look at myself as a basketball coach;
> I look at myself as a leader who happens to coach
> basketball."--Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University head
> basketball coach
>
> "I really don't think that it's a job of a high school
> coach to produce college players, and I don't think
> that it's the college coach's job to produce
> professional players."--Kirk Ferentz,
> University of Iowa head football coach

Johann Fitzgerald wrote:

> Potholes only damage cars if you hit them if you're going fast. If you
> cross them at 5 mph they do nothing. Besides, they help drainage out,
> too.

Potholes do not help drainage. Quite the contrary, they impede drainage.
In areas where there is heavy frost pot holes are the first step toward
serious deterioration of the road surface. Water gets into the hole and
the repeated freezing and thawing night and day expands the problem area
leading to complete disintegration of the hard surface. Vehicles hitting
passing over the exposed edges break them of expanding the size of the pot
hole. Besides, vehicles slowing to 5 mph for the hazards impede traffic,
causing backups and......accidents. A few dollars spent to repair a small
pothole will extend the life of the road, reduce damage to vehicles and
accidents.

Johann Fitzgerald wrote:
> Potholes only damage cars if you hit them if you're going fast. If you
> cross them at 5 mph they do nothing. Besides, they help drainage out,
> too.

What an idiotic statement. What would happen in the winter, when the
water inflitrates the pothole, causing it to break apart even more? And
then seep into the subbase and cause the road to fall apart? I mean,
hell, you are proposing NO maintaince on the road at all, so why not
turn it into gravel? Your statement is conclusive to that; that is what
the road will become without work to prevent these obstructions.

What do you propose we do on interstates? Not repair the potholes? Let
them become wastelands?

And your comment that it will slow traffic down is stupid. Speed humps,
traffic circles and signs are much more effective. There is _no_ reason
traffic should be going 5 MPH at any rate. 20 MPH is the lowest I have
seen a residental street posted, and even that was too slow. 25 MPH
would have been more effective.

Sherman L. Cahal wrote:

(snip)

> There is _no_ reason
> traffic should be going 5 MPH at any rate.

Unless, of course, you happen to be in a Thruway E-ZPass Only lane....

GOtta love how the Thruway Authority's definition of "high speed"
E-ZPass is 20 MPH.....though at least other places are catching on
(Outerbridge, GWB Palisades and Lower Level plazas also feature 20 MPH
E-ZPass lanes).

Sherman L. Cahal wrote:
> Johann Fitzgerald wrote:
> > Potholes only damage cars if you hit them if you're going fast. If you
> > cross them at 5 mph they do nothing. Besides, they help drainage out,
> > too.
>
> What an idiotic statement. What would happen in the winter, when the
> water inflitrates the pothole, causing it to break apart even more? And
> then seep into the subbase and cause the road to fall apart? I mean,
> hell, you are proposing NO maintaince on the road at all, so why not
> turn it into gravel? Your statement is conclusive to that; that is what
> the road will become without work to prevent these obstructions.
>
> What do you propose we do on interstates? Not repair the potholes? Let
> them become wastelands?

It beats wasting money fixing them.

>
> And your comment that it will slow traffic down is stupid. Speed humps,
> traffic circles and signs are much more effective. There is _no_ reason
> traffic should be going 5 MPH at any rate. 20 MPH is the lowest I have
> seen a residental street posted, and even that was too slow. 25 MPH
> would have been more effective.

Furious George wrote:
> Sherman L. Cahal wrote:
> > Johann Fitzgerald wrote:
> > > Potholes only damage cars if you hit them if you're going fast. If you
> > > cross them at 5 mph they do nothing. Besides, they help drainage out,
> > > too.
> >
> > What an idiotic statement. What would happen in the winter, when the
> > water inflitrates the pothole, causing it to break apart even more? And
> > then seep into the subbase and cause the road to fall apart? I mean,
> > hell, you are proposing NO maintaince on the road at all, so why not
> > turn it into gravel? Your statement is conclusive to that; that is what
> > the road will become without work to prevent these obstructions.
> >
> > What do you propose we do on interstates? Not repair the potholes? Let
> > them become wastelands?
>
> It beats wasting money fixing them.

They tried that in PA; didn't work.

nate

>> What do you propose we do on interstates? Not repair the potholes? Let
>> them become wastelands?

> It beats wasting money fixing them.

You may want to look into which President kicked off this program and
how his previous gig inspired his abiding interest in the subject.

We still have that need to some extent... and meanwhile, commerce has
become absolutely dependent on fast, near-all-weather throughways such
as this. And no, we can't substitute other modes of transportation.
Freight trains, trucks, ships, and airplanes are all role players in a
web of infrastructure; none can do the whole job by itself (though
trucks could come closer than the others).

As for leaving potholes be, that's an excellent way to make the street
or highway return to nature (or at least a contaminated, infertile
parody of nature). Ignoring a pothole is the civil engineering
equivalent of ignoring a big oil leak in your car. If you want to have
the street or highway at all for very long, never mind keeping it in
any sort of driveable condition, you have to give it maintenance.

Cheers,
--Joe