Northwest Indiana Discussion

As I drive around the area, I noticed that many streets have cracked asphalt lines in them. Some of these are rather deep and wide. You might check them out, some are very long. I quess the damage to the streets is due to the harsh winter we have had. Yesterday I drove down Ridge Road in Munster. They were repaving the street. Then I got my answer to the crevice in the street. When they apply new ashalt, one lane at a time, they do not join it correctly and they leave a thin narrow space. When winter time comes around, ice gets in there and destroyes the roadway. Some streets are not paved this way, they join the lines with perfection. I wonder if they have inspectors to monitor situations like this. Or on the other hand, is it overlooked, so more repairs can be made and money can been made in just a few years. It's funny, with Munster being so critical on things in town that they haven't corrected this future problem.

There are three levels to an asphalt road, from the bottom up they are base, binder, and mat.

When they lay down the surface coat or the mat, space is left for the mat to expand once the heavy roller flattens it and adheres it to the binder level.

I hope that helps.

I was aware of two layers as they did Ridge Rd. But I never knew what they called them. The finish coat has a gap of up to 1 inch at numerous places.(several blocks) Checking old roads around, I have found gaps over 4 inches. If these gaps had been sealed together properly, water and ice would have never entered. This is just a passing thought. I quess it's my old job appearing and rareing up.