The right materials on a solid base a road will last forever, just as roman roads, aquaducts, and other structures are still in use today. Stone doesn’t wear all that much, and the concrete the romans used, is still in use now.
Now as far as putting pipes and electrical lines, I would do all of that right the first time, and or leave a tunnel you could change them out in if you have to.
It would be a good use of borrowed money for a change, to build roads that last, as it will save money in the long run in not having to redo them all the time. It would be an even better use of borrowed money to build more freight and passenger rail, especially interstate, but we can’t have nice things I guess the plutocracy is dug into how things are now. We pay more money for less and worse things because people profit off of the way we do it now.
Roman roads did several layers, gravel, and the like, to make sure there was drainage and it was on a solid footing, then they would lock in paving stones with sand trapped around it, the sand has no where to go, same way patios are done in a way, and it lasts forever when it’s done right. They could even make a solid base with a layer that could be changed every once and a while.
Or even better, although this is out there, is make the roads of some kind of cast ceramic with magnatism in there, and build cars to float on the roads with magnatism. That would take all new cars and or drivers to make them compatible, but would be way faster and more efficient.
You can build damn near anything to last a thousand years. Nobody wants to pay for it though, and I mean can you blame them? If you increase the price by an order of magnitude people are going to get cranky.
It’s more expensive rebuilding it a bunch of times than doing it right the first time. We have a shit load of money. And it would be a proper use of borrowed money for a change, investing in something that pays for itself in the long run. As opposed to borrowing to buy tanker ships full of lube to stroke off investors like we do now.
Yeah, so instead of using semis going 100kph, put the cargo they haul in freit trains … Train tracks last quite a while. And you will get a good rail network out of it as a bonus. And now your roads last longer ! What a treat ;)
They also didn’t have the technology we did, it is pretty self defeating to think we can’t build something that can handle weight, because we don’t already build stuff that can handle weight. Even though they built stuff still in use, obviously we can’t, must be the weight, or else we would.
Yet their concrete is still in use and ours isn’t, even that isn’t under extra load. Maybe we are just cheap and short term? (we are.)
And also they would hold up, because there is nothing to break. If you get it on a solid foundation, stone locked in place with sand and the like, there is no where to go, stone is strong. So is concrete if you make it to be strong.
Expose those Roman road designs to today’s vehicle loads, frequency, and speed and they won’t last long either.
As for getting utility sizing right forever so that they never have to be dug up again, that’s highly impractical as communities change - they grow, shrink, densify. Industries can move in and out of an area changing demand. Regulations change. Water mains and sewers age and fail and are replaced on a schedule. When new service connections are added, workers have to get to the main. And if they’re in a tunnel large enough for workers and equipment to remove and replace utilities, we’re talking a subway tunnel under every road and large access points every thousand or so feet. Tunnels will also deteriorate, flood, etc.
I disagree, and condemn your assumption that things are done the best way already. Despite everything, you still trust the authorities, in business and government. You do not see the possible as a result, you shun new ways of doing things, because you trust authority. I think it’s a baaaaaad philosophy myself.
The right materials on a solid base a road will last forever, just as roman roads, aquaducts, and other structures are still in use today. Stone doesn’t wear all that much, and the concrete the romans used, is still in use now.
Now as far as putting pipes and electrical lines, I would do all of that right the first time, and or leave a tunnel you could change them out in if you have to.
It would be a good use of borrowed money for a change, to build roads that last, as it will save money in the long run in not having to redo them all the time. It would be an even better use of borrowed money to build more freight and passenger rail, especially interstate, but we can’t have nice things I guess the plutocracy is dug into how things are now. We pay more money for less and worse things because people profit off of the way we do it now.
Roman roads did several layers, gravel, and the like, to make sure there was drainage and it was on a solid footing, then they would lock in paving stones with sand trapped around it, the sand has no where to go, same way patios are done in a way, and it lasts forever when it’s done right. They could even make a solid base with a layer that could be changed every once and a while.
Or even better, although this is out there, is make the roads of some kind of cast ceramic with magnatism in there, and build cars to float on the roads with magnatism. That would take all new cars and or drivers to make them compatible, but would be way faster and more efficient.
You can build damn near anything to last a thousand years. Nobody wants to pay for it though, and I mean can you blame them? If you increase the price by an order of magnitude people are going to get cranky.
It’s more expensive rebuilding it a bunch of times than doing it right the first time. We have a shit load of money. And it would be a proper use of borrowed money for a change, investing in something that pays for itself in the long run. As opposed to borrowing to buy tanker ships full of lube to stroke off investors like we do now.
Roman roads didnt have fleets of semi’s driving over them at 100+ kph every day. Do that for a few years on a Roman road and see how well it holds up
Yeah, so instead of using semis going 100kph, put the cargo they haul in freit trains … Train tracks last quite a while. And you will get a good rail network out of it as a bonus. And now your roads last longer ! What a treat ;)
They also didn’t have the technology we did, it is pretty self defeating to think we can’t build something that can handle weight, because we don’t already build stuff that can handle weight. Even though they built stuff still in use, obviously we can’t, must be the weight, or else we would.
Yet their concrete is still in use and ours isn’t, even that isn’t under extra load. Maybe we are just cheap and short term? (we are.)
And also they would hold up, because there is nothing to break. If you get it on a solid foundation, stone locked in place with sand and the like, there is no where to go, stone is strong. So is concrete if you make it to be strong.
Expose those Roman road designs to today’s vehicle loads, frequency, and speed and they won’t last long either.
As for getting utility sizing right forever so that they never have to be dug up again, that’s highly impractical as communities change - they grow, shrink, densify. Industries can move in and out of an area changing demand. Regulations change. Water mains and sewers age and fail and are replaced on a schedule. When new service connections are added, workers have to get to the main. And if they’re in a tunnel large enough for workers and equipment to remove and replace utilities, we’re talking a subway tunnel under every road and large access points every thousand or so feet. Tunnels will also deteriorate, flood, etc.
I disagree, and condemn your assumption that things are done the best way already. Despite everything, you still trust the authorities, in business and government. You do not see the possible as a result, you shun new ways of doing things, because you trust authority. I think it’s a baaaaaad philosophy myself.