Gritters out in 30degs C

[pickmaster Andy Lowe]

Gritters out in North Wales in 30 degs C

To stop the roads melting ??

How's that work then ?

[jacko9370]

Maybe there just from last winter still trying to catch up

[User0083]

Grit absorbing the melting tar maybe?

Are they expecting something we don't know about?

[M444TTB]

BBC R2 mentioned this. Apparently the Bitumen heats up and rises to the surface destabilising the road. Whatever it is they spread (not grit salt!) bonds with this to restore the road surface. Shame the pot holes won't self heal!

[pickmaster Andy Lowe]

I thought it might turn to a protective layer of dust when driven over!!!!!!!!!!

[pickmaster Andy Lowe]

BBC R2 mentioned this. Apparently the Bitumen heats up and rises to the surface destabilising the road. Whatever it is they spread (not grit salt!) bonds with this to restore the road surface. Shame the pot holes won't self heal!

Thanks for that

It had my scratching my head

[Norman Verona]

Happens around here all the time. They just let it melt. 

 

We were on the way back to Blighty from Le Mans one year and the road between Gace and Liseaux was melting. So much so it was almost liquid tar.

[Nic Chase (NICO) - Shropshire & Mid-Wales AO]

Saw one today on the A46, driving at gritting speed, lights flashing and grit spinner revolving !! Apparently they are spreading a fine grit to stop they bitumen from melting.

[User0083]

Seen old country lanes in Devon with ripples where they've melted and start to run down the hill. Like a bad paint finish. Seen many with tyre treads in them where cars have gone over soft tarmac.

While in Germany every summer was hitter than this, every winter colder than ours... But they never seemed to have the issue we have.

[bhouse]

That's the point though. Countries that are consistently hotter/wetter/snowier etc can easily justify the cost of (for example) the expensive resin binders you can add to bitumen that enable it to cope with very high temperatures. Same with snow ploughs - if you use them for 4 months every year they're worth buying. If they'll only be used 4 days a year the cost is higher than the potential return.