tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post2425877951553007212..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: PotholesSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-47172562710588269842008-03-05T15:53:00.000-05:002008-03-05T15:53:00.000-05:00Hi Bee,I was surfing the net on potholes. Where I...Hi Bee,<BR/><BR/>I was surfing the net on potholes. Where I live, Rockford, Il. a city 90 miles (145 km) northeast of Chicago, I have never seen potholes as bad here in my entire life! It is a pet peeve of mine also. <BR/><BR/>I am not a civil engineer but the following I think are common sense reasons why we have such pothole problems.<BR/><BR/>1. Temperature extremes. (This hasn't ever Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-35809213822096609252008-02-13T16:30:00.000-05:002008-02-13T16:30:00.000-05:00Hi Anon,I found the concept of nations being repla...Hi Anon,<BR/><BR/>I found the concept of nations being replaced by global companies interesting and actually plausible. Though it is to me of some concern. What I would like to see instead are 'nations' as political systems become 'global', i.e. disentangled from their local attachment (the local politics is a not necessarily directly related aspect). I am thinking of a generalized 'social Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-16662249897421683912008-02-13T13:58:00.000-05:002008-02-13T13:58:00.000-05:00Hello Bee;Read Snowcrash. While I found the primor...Hello Bee;<BR/><BR/>Read Snowcrash. While I found the primordial language angle very interesting I thought his prose skills failed during the second half. He did have an ending. While I may be more interested in en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dispossessed<BR/> I fear en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sheep_Look_Up<BR/> may be more plausible at this point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-11378497085987280952008-02-13T11:04:00.000-05:002008-02-13T11:04:00.000-05:00Hi Lafo,many internet sites suggest that potholes ...Hi Lafo,<BR/><BR/><I>many internet sites suggest that potholes are caused be freezing and thawing of water that seeps between the pavement layers, </I><BR/><BR/>That is also what the file said that I linked to above. Unfortunately, I just noticed that the link doesn't work. It was in German anyway, so probably not of much help. It summarized the results of a durability study on asphalt depending Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-82960201630287698872008-02-13T06:11:00.000-05:002008-02-13T06:11:00.000-05:00Hello Lafo,"On the other hand, many internet sites...Hello Lafo,<BR/>"On the other hand, many internet sites suggest that potholes are caused be freezing and thawing of water that seeps between the pavement layers, so maybe I was wrong all along."<BR/>Right. As You wrote, this goes back to <BR/>some Slowakian/Russian experience, <BR/>in the west, this is impossible since 50 years <BR/>at least. <BR/>First: "paraffin" does not exist, this is the Georghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02538391164351204407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-68794887067492563172008-02-12T21:46:00.000-05:002008-02-12T21:46:00.000-05:00Hi Lafo,This is interesting. Do you think it is li...<I>Hi Lafo,<BR/><BR/>This is interesting. Do you think it is likely there will be some innovation that helps dealing with the problem? </I><BR/><BR/>My limited understanding is that only solution is to use asphalts that contain no paraffins. My dad says asphalts from Venezuela and Romania are low in paraffins and hence make good (but expensive) roads, whereas Russian asphalts crumble in the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-84915059256331002112008-02-12T21:43:00.000-05:002008-02-12T21:43:00.000-05:00Bee - You came up in converstation today! At the ...Bee - You came up in converstation today! At the deli today (after snowboarding of course!) the owner and another custy were discussing how pavement put down this past fall over a small bridge was already chewed up. "Oh you should hear whats going on in Waterloo...its so bad a woman I know has started videoing the carnage and putting it online.." I think I gave them an idea!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-5394418897241529002008-02-12T16:37:00.000-05:002008-02-12T16:37:00.000-05:00Hi Anon,You might enjoy this bookhttp://en.wikiped...Hi Anon,<BR/><BR/>You might enjoy this book<BR/><BR/>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash<BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/><BR/>B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-19388235855238496482008-02-12T16:35:00.000-05:002008-02-12T16:35:00.000-05:00Hello Bee;Sadly both your post and my 'challenge' ...Hello Bee;<BR/><BR/>Sadly both your post and my 'challenge' (a strange reading of 'however') are both relatively true. I personally find the ugly American more annoying but that may be because of my United States passport. Nationalism is so 20th century. <BR/><BR/>sign me anonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-54274479674829029422008-02-12T13:38:00.000-05:002008-02-12T13:38:00.000-05:00Hi Georg,Well, Sachsenhausen is auf derselben Seit...Hi Georg,<BR/><BR/>Well, Sachsenhausen is auf derselben Seite vom Bach. <BR/><BR/>Hi Mum,<BR/><BR/>How could I forget this culture shock!<BR/><BR/>Hi Anonymous,<BR/><BR/>The 'challenge' was referring to the first sentence of your parody.<BR/><BR/>Hi Lafo,<BR/><BR/>This is interesting. Do you think it is likely there will be some innovation that helps dealing with the problem?<BR/><BR/>Hi Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-85267706984748754842008-02-12T12:03:00.000-05:002008-02-12T12:03:00.000-05:00> If that challenge was aimed at me however you've...> If that challenge was aimed at me however you've completely missed the target.<BR/><BR/>I think parody would be more accurate than 'challenge'.<BR/><BR/>"I am a citizen of the world, my countrymen all mankind."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-86626567178933001752008-02-12T10:56:00.000-05:002008-02-12T10:56:00.000-05:00Hi Bee,do you remember when we visited the new eas...Hi Bee,<BR/>do you remember when we visited the new eastern "Bundeslaender" in 1990 there were a lot of traffic signs 80-60-40, which mean: in a distance of 80m are 60 potholes which are not been repaired for 40 years!<BR/>Best MumAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-71916995052272665612008-02-12T08:00:00.000-05:002008-02-12T08:00:00.000-05:00Aber, aber, Sabine,die Präpositionen hibbdebach un...Aber, aber, Sabine,<BR/>die Präpositionen hibbdebach und<BR/>dribbdebach beziehen sich auf <BR/>Frankfort unn Saxehause!<BR/>GeorgGeorghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02538391164351204407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-64774705056142721502008-02-12T05:45:00.000-05:002008-02-12T05:45:00.000-05:00Argonne National Lab solves pothole problem. A spi...Argonne National Lab <A HREF="http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/Argonne_News/news02/an020121.html#story2" REL="nofollow">solves pothole problem</A>. A spinoff brought to you by the nuclear power industry, LOL.CarlBrannenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17180079098492232258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-9360203655976888382008-02-11T22:32:00.000-05:002008-02-11T22:32:00.000-05:00Hi Bee - this warm/wet/cold winter hasn't helped b...Hi Bee - this warm/wet/cold winter hasn't helped but I think a lot has to do with the dreadful way they pave now, something not likely to get better given that asphalt is made from that well known commodity fetching $95/bbl.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-12139036774794884402008-02-11T20:04:00.000-05:002008-02-11T20:04:00.000-05:00Hi Anonymous:;-pIf that challenge was aimed at me ...Hi Anonymous:<BR/><BR/>;-p<BR/><BR/>If that challenge was aimed at me however you've completely missed the target. I am not proud to be German. National pride isn't a concept that resonates with me. I don't understand how I should be proud of something I had nothing to do with. I didn't ask to be born, and I certainly didn't specify the coordinates.<BR/><BR/>On a global scale, compared to most ofSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-19908114353830144192008-02-11T19:34:00.000-05:002008-02-11T19:34:00.000-05:00Potholes happen because most asphalts contain para...Potholes happen because most asphalts contain paraffins. When the weather gets cold, the paraffins crystallize and the asphalt loses its structural cohesiveness, basically it crumbles to pieces - that's why whole chunks are missing.<BR/><BR/>Different asphalts contain different amounts of paraffins, and I suspect different paraffins have different crystallization temperatures. Heavy traffic (Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-87909441564738429632008-02-11T19:09:00.000-05:002008-02-11T19:09:00.000-05:00However ... The easiest way to annoy an European ...However ... <BR/><BR/> The easiest way to annoy an European citizen is to challenge his or her national pride. He will either label you anti-European and therby justify his right to dismiss everything the arrogant American says (because she's of course just jealous her passport has the wrong color). Or the discussion will inevitably approach the big attractor Bush. And yes, restrictions apply. AsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-56005243472160449152008-02-11T17:00:00.000-05:002008-02-11T17:00:00.000-05:00The problem with potholes is more serious now than...The problem with potholes is more serious now than ever because the size of vehicles just gets bigger. An SUV does much greater damage to the road than a compact car.<BR/><BR/>The condition of highways in Europe is not as bad as that in America, perhaps because the majority of cars in Europe are more compact. This is certainly true in England .ChickenBreederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02654417966675250243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-6710003347805232762008-02-11T16:21:00.000-05:002008-02-11T16:21:00.000-05:00The worst roads I have encountered were in Romania...The worst roads I have encountered were in Romania ... on a 'shortcut' where the highest possible average speed was about 10km/h. The fraction of pothole to road was approaching 0.5.<BR/><BR/>After that comes Greece, I guess, particularly Crete, then parts of Detroit. But Heidelberg is pretty awful too. The main road south from HD was built in cobblestones many decades ago<BR/>http://ww2.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-7597759187006679912008-02-11T13:34:00.000-05:002008-02-11T13:34:00.000-05:00Okay, I've been driving 240 km/h on the AutobahnHO...<I>Okay, I've been driving 240 km/h on the Autobahn</I><BR/><BR/>HOW DARE THEY TRY TO END THIS BEAUTY!<BR/><BR/>If you don't want your adhered aggregate to catastrophically fragment you add fiber. This is true for concrete, asphalt, and piece of crap Space Scuttle foam. It would be idiot simple and cheap to add geotex, glass/rock wool, etc to asphalt during emplacement and double or triple its Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-36276520168964015672008-02-11T11:22:00.000-05:002008-02-11T11:22:00.000-05:00Don't think of it as a pothole, think of it as a b...Don't think of it as a pothole, think of it as a broken symmetry.<BR/><BR/>andy.sAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-4865985896812300392008-02-11T10:58:00.000-05:002008-02-11T10:58:00.000-05:00Hee I was, speeding down the infomation supehighwa...Hee I was, speeding down the infomation supehighway, when I hit this blog post and popped the "" key out of my keyboad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-66134477556629351432008-02-11T10:05:00.000-05:002008-02-11T10:05:00.000-05:00oops, typo: I meant 'rather sooner than later'oops, typo: I meant 'rather sooner than later'Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-6378227363834947162008-02-11T09:56:00.000-05:002008-02-11T09:56:00.000-05:00Dear Stefan:but at least, there are no potholes!Go...Dear Stefan:<BR/><BR/><I>but at least, there are no potholes!</I><BR/><BR/>Good old Germany ;-)<BR/><BR/><I>Broken Axle</I><BR/><BR/>I have no desire to see the Honda dealer ever again. <BR/><BR/>When I went there two weeks ago, and the guy asked 'How can I help you?' I said 'I have a problem with my car. Actually, I have several problems.' Upon which he said enthusiastically 'GREAT!'<BR/><BR/>Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com