Why do all the NHRA tracks have bumps?

[Gilles]

hey Hutch.. you never cease to amaze

 

[Triple Nickel II]

This is why they pour freeways 12 inches deep. They have to grind them smooth every once in a while to compensate for the ever-changing surface.

Around here they just replace the top 2" of asphalt so that every other year the ODOT employees, their highway contractor buddies, and the orange barrel makers will have something to do.

Oh how I miss southern, concrete highways.

 

[Bullet]

Around here they just replace the top 2" of asphalt so that every other year the ODOT employees, their highway contractor buddies, and the orange barrel makers will have something to do.

Oh how I miss southern, concrete highways.

Hey Wayne, they did that here in Texas on I-30 just east of Dallas, ruined a perfectly good concrete highway with 2" of black top that started lifting before they had finished the laying. MORONS!!

 

[Hutch]

Just curious, how tracks in Europe don't have bumps???

l received this info from a drag racing photo-journalist friend. l know that the Amcar International Raceway track in Norway is perfectly smooth and flat, also, if l recall correctly, the strip in Alastaro, Finland. Mantorp Park, Sweden has no bumps, though it is uphill, and the Hockenheimring, Germany does give drag racers a bit of a start where the asphalt used on the strip meets that laid on the Formula 1 circuit, midway along the 1320.

 

[Sully]

I don't miss the concrete highways - I have yet to drive on a smooth concrete highway - they all have bumps at every expansion joint that beat the crap out of my motorhome. Asphalt, especially the stuff they are using now, is much smoother and can be repaved much quicker - concrete repaving jobs create those permanent construction zones - at least, the construction zones seem to last for several years - with very little visible sign of progress while asphalt repavers lay down several miles a day.

 

[Triple Nickel II]

I don't miss the concrete highways - I have yet to drive on a smooth concrete highway - they all have bumps at every expansion joint that beat the crap out of my motorhome. Asphalt, especially the stuff they are using now, is much smoother and can be repaved much quicker - concrete repaving jobs create those permanent construction zones - at least, the construction zones seem to last for several years - with very little visible sign of progress while asphalt repavers lay down several miles a day.

With all due respect, a lot depends on the part of the country where you live.

There is a less than 15 mile stretch of I-77 between Canton and Akron that has never been "Orange Barrel Free" during the 9 or so years I've lived here.

Thin asphalt repaving in Ohio's diverse weather is guaranteed job security for contractors and the highway department.

 

[stanman]

... Also, the Autobahn in Germany, used different technology from that used in the USA, does the Autobahn have bumps?

Lee
Nitroclovers

As noted above, yes the Autobahn has bumps. But it has held up much better than U.S. highways of similar construction.

The main reason being that the Autobahn had a minimum roadway thickness of 22" compared to the 15" minimum of the U.S. interstate system.

Thin asphalt repaving in Ohio's diverse weather is guaranteed job security for contractors and the highway department.

Wayne,

My girlfriend is from Cleveland and her friend that owns a t-shirt shop used to sell a shirt with a picture of highway cones and a caption that read "Ah, Springtime in Ohio"... LOL

 

[Johnny Mopar]

I don't miss the concrete highways - I have yet to drive on a smooth concrete highway - they all have bumps at every expansion joint that beat the crap out of my motorhome. Asphalt, especially the stuff they are using now, is much smoother and can be repaved much quicker - concrete repaving jobs create those permanent construction zones - at least, the construction zones seem to last for several years - with very little visible sign of progress while asphalt repavers lay down several miles a day.

I agree Larry...asphalt is sooooo much easier to drive and ride on. Here in Missouri they'll remove the old asphalt, and lay a new thick layer in a train-like process. The entire operation is less than 100 yards long. It's amazing...at the front is the old rough surface, at the end of the 'train' is brand new, ready to use paving. Incredible...