Why do we still use concrete and asphalt for our roadways? Why have we not found a better material that is less prone to potholes and always feels smooth to drive on?
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You could design and build a surface that is “better” in being more elastic and less prone to cracking.
However, asphalt and concrete are mostly just rocks with some binders in them. Quite literally nothing else you try to use will be as cheap, readily available, easily brought to site, and easily fixed.
There’s more considerations in play than just making the best feeling road.
I doubt that any other will withstand such stress (aswell as temps) as many cars that weight tons go at high speeds. Or the meterial will be very expensive.
Money. Think of how many square km of the Earth is paved – the area of ALL the roads and parking lots in the world is GIGANTIC. That means cost is going to be a high-priority factor in deciding what material is “best” to use, because whatever we use we’re going to need a LOT of it.
Concrete and asphalt actually do a darn good job of resisting damage and potholes given the abuse they face (we take this for granted but hundreds-to-thousands of multi-ton moving weight loads per day is formidable wear and tear on *any* material. A material would have to be remarkably strong AND flexible to do the job any better than what we use now. And concrete and asphalt are mostly made of regular rocks, meaning they’re also incredibly cheap per area covered. It’s been impossible to find a material that’s any better that wouldn’t also be several times more expensive. And nobody wants all roads to be 5x (or 50x) more expensive to have fewer potholes for a little longer. It’s just not worth it.
asphalt is a good combination of resilient and cheap, provides good traction, and it is near-infinitely recyclable. Not much else is as cost effective.
>less prone to potholes and always feels smooth to drive on
This is more of a maintenance problem. If authorities devote the necessary resources to find and fix the occasional cracks before they snowball into bigger problems, asphalt roads can be kept in excellent condition.
also. asphalt and concrete can be obtained locally almost anywhere whereas a manufactured new material may have to deal with specialized factories or materials that will, after manufacturing, be shipped to the place of use.
Asphalt is pretty much unusable tar from the oil industry mixed with rocks. It doesn’t get much cheaper.
And it does a lot of things well. It doesn’t get too slippery when it rains. It’s fairly easy to work with. Easy to recycle.
Faster, Better, Cheaper – choose 2.
Asphalt is fast and cheap.
Concrete is cheap (though not as cheap as asphalt) and better.
If you discover a substance that’s cheaper than concrete/asphalt and better (in a durability perspective) than concrete/asphalt, then people would really like to buy it from you. Alas, no such substance is known.
There are some ideas, like mixing broken glass in to replace the sand, that are a little better and a little cheaper than asphalt, but not enough cheaper and better to expand at scale.
It’s very simple. It’s dirt cheap and it’s good enough.
Asphalt goes for about 40 to 80 USD per ton and Concrete goes for about 50 to 75 USD per ton.
This might not be exactly the price where you life, but it should be close enough.
It just not worth it to look for anything else.
We definitely have better materials, but are they cheaper? Probably not. We are fairly short-sighted politically, so a road that lasts 100 yrs vs. 30 yrs but costs double won’t be seen as worth it for most taxpayers
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