4 years and Billions of $$$ ??

[UFO Pilot]

We are just completing a 4 month 10,000 mile trip thru 34 states and found the roads to be HORRIBLE. Thousands of miles of road are under construction but very little is actually completed. What has been accomplished in 4 years and Billions of $$$? We found the roads in Washington and Oregon to be the best and the Eastern states the worst.

[Fred1609]

We noticed the same thing in California coming North from Oregon, but in fairness there was some new ashphalt being laid down...Oregon has my vote for the best roads.

[wa8yxm]

10,000 miles and you expectes smooth roads all the way....

When I worked for the state (Police dispatcher) we would get callers "I'm going to Chicago in the morning, is there any construciton on I-94?"

Now I-94 in MICHIGAN is, from the approximate center of Detroit, 215 miles to the Indiana state line, you have at least another hour's drive, let's round it to 300 miles one way.

In that distance.... You are GOING to have construction, Now I will tell you why.

IF you took two Highway construction crews, put one at the Indiana line and one at the Blue Water Bridge, and had them work toward each other, Long about Jackson they could jump the wall and work back to their starting points (goign the other way) They would NEVER be out of work, Because by the time they got back to the end of the road, it would be time to start over again

Roads, like tires, wear out, they need to be replaced every so often. Thus a short road, perhaps 10 miles, That can be finished, but if you have a road that is more than a couple hundred miles long there is GOING to be construction

[UFO Pilot]

I never expected smooth roads all of the way, I just figured some of the construction we saw 2 years ago (on the same roads) would be completed by now. Lots of construction and not much completed.

[vraines]

I think most states are trying to figure out how to pay for all the needed work. Some are doing better than others. My home state, Missouri, is exploring increased gas taxes (.20 /gal), added sales tax, and some tole roads,(I 70 & I 44). I suppose none of this will happen during election year, but watch out next year. I think the previous poster was right, we will never catch the train at this rate. We badly need some new roads and expansions of existing roads and we are barely getting the holes patched.

[BCooke]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

...Because by the time they got back to the end of the road, it would be time to start over again

Roads, like tires, wear out, they need to be replaced every so often. Thus a short road, perhaps 10 miles, That can be finished, but if you have a road that is more than a couple hundred miles long there is GOING to be construction

Have to disagree, to an extent. They do wear out, but a well built road can last years. Northern MN route 11, they are replacing this year, tear out to the bed. That road has been there for around 40 years with minimum road work other than upkeep. Now the flip side is to install a road like that takes years, and dollars. So no investment up front and wanting it done today, does not help. Up there no one is happy with the 5-60 mile detours, but it will be a nice road when finished.

[Lincolnboy2]

My Company is a heavy highway/bridge prime contractor. We have been in business going on 47 years now. We do work on bridge overpass, marine bridge overpass construction, Corps of Engineers, civil projects like pump stations, etc. in the 10 - 70 million dollar range. Our competitors are big companies like Zachry, Austin Bridge, Granite, etc.

Highway/bridge construction has to be done in phases in order to minimize traffic disruptions, lane changes, lane closures, etc. If a highway or bridge contractor could completely shut down the road being worked on, work on it non stop, have no differing site conditions, no E&O delays, no weather delays, no labor delays, no equipment delays, no material delays, most projects could be completed in months instead of years.

Big projects around here like the I-35 north of Ft. Worth and the 635 double decker projects (200-500 million) are let out in bulk to design/build/operate firms that do just that, design it, build it, then run it (tolls) for the next 20 years. The problem with these is companies that have the ability to bid/bond/build these type projects have been bought out by foreign companies that are subsidized by their individual governments. I know at least 1 big company here in the DFW area that was bought out by a Spanish holding company several years ago just for this reason....they can bid/bond/acquire these huge contracts with the financial backing of foreign governments quite well. Sad, huh?

Some facts:

One-third of America's major roads are in poor condition.

Nearly a third of all highway fatalities are due to substandard road conditions, obsolete road designs, or roadside hazards.

Over 4,095 dams are "unsafe" and have deficiencies that leave them more susceptible to failure, especially during large flood events or earthquakes.

More than 25 percent of America's nearly 600,000 bridges need significant repairs or are burdened with more traffic than they were designed to carry.

More than a third of all dam failures or near failures since 1874 have happened in just the last decade.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, we need to spend approximately $2.2 trillion on infrastructure repairs and upgrades just to bring our existing infrastructure up to "good condition".


Scary huh?

[wb7auk]

You mention Oregon and Washington's good roads that must have been on the west
side of both states.

[awwall]

Originally Posted by Lincolnboy2

My Company is a heavy highway/bridge prime contractor. We have been in business going on 47 years now. We do work on bridge overpass, marine bridge overpass construction, Corps of Engineers, civil projects like pump stations, etc. in the 10 - 70 million dollar range. Our competitors are big companies like Zachry, Austin Bridge, Granite, etc.

Highway/bridge construction has to be done in phases in order to minimize traffic disruptions, lane changes, lane closures, etc. If a highway or bridge contractor could completely shut down the road being worked on, work on it non stop, have no differing site conditions, no E&O delays, no weather delays, no labor delays, no equipment delays, no material delays, most projects could be completed in months instead of years.

Big projects around here like the I-35 north of Ft. Worth and the 635 double decker projects (200-500 million) are let out in bulk to design/build/operate firms that do just that, design it, build it, then run it (tolls) for the next 20 years. The problem with these is companies that have the ability to bid/bond/build these type projects have been bought out by foreign companies that are subsidized by their individual governments. I know at least 1 big company here in the DFW area that was bought out by a Spanish holding company several years ago just for this reason....they can bid/bond/acquire these huge contracts with the financial backing of foreign governments quite well. Sad, huh?

Some facts:

One-third of America's major roads are in poor condition.

Nearly a third of all highway fatalities are due to substandard road conditions, obsolete road designs, or roadside hazards.

Over 4,095 dams are "unsafe" and have deficiencies that leave them more susceptible to failure, especially during large flood events or earthquakes.

More than 25 percent of America's nearly 600,000 bridges need significant repairs or are burdened with more traffic than they were designed to carry.

More than a third of all dam failures or near failures since 1874 have happened in just the last decade.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, we need to spend approximately $2.2 trillion on infrastructure repairs and upgrades just to bring our existing infrastructure up to "good condition".


Scary huh?

If about 1/3 of our last 4 year budget deficit had been on our infrastructure it would not only be in "good" condition, but, think of how many jobs would have been created.

Now this is scary!! Where did all our taxes for this work go?

[DonDee]

Lots of these got put up at an avg of $10K per

[JohnRR]

Be careful of where this thread is starting to go please.

[CLIFFTALL]

Starting to go ? I think it started there.

[JudyH]

Your money went to fund the programs started 10 or 11 years ago. Which is why we can't have any jobs starting now.

[Five2o]

I just finished driving across the Northern US ... the interstate highways are in pristine condition compared to the goat path we call highway #1 in Canada.

Trucks beat the crap out of everything...there is no way a highway exposed to freeze/thaw, concrete curl and heavy truck traffic like I 94 in Michigan could run smooth for more than a couple years.