9 Things The Rich Don't Want You To Know About Taxes

[dbacks fan]

They use this method a lot in Arizona and some other states I consider to generally have good roads.

Most of the freeways that have been built here since '98 consist of an 18" or 20" reinforced concrete base with approximately 2" to 3" rubberized asphault top layer. It was interesting to watch when they added additional lanes to one freeway I used to drive regularly. When pouring the concrete base, they could pave a section of about 3/4 to one mile a day, and then that evening start cutting the expansion joints.

[dbacks fan]

Except it requires more maintenance when it's on top of the concrete instead of under it, ergo higher maintenance costs and deferred/neglected maintenance.

I beg to differ. Unless it gets damaged by fire, chemical, or severly damaged by a large vehicle rollover, the maintenance here is minimal.

[Red Arrow]

I remember this hill as being steeper in the 60s.  Maybe they did some dirt work.  The reason I picked it to show is that I remember the side of the road coming down hill as always being rough like a washboard.  The asphalt would move under the braking load of the vehicles.  The uphill side was never as bad.  I expect the road was all asphalt.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=villanova,+pa&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=41.632176,90.791016&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Villanova,+Delaware,+Pennsylvania&ll=40.036443,-75.348098&spn=0,0.015171&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.036493,-75.347987&panoid=lDonAXF_i4q-7s1Vm7HrBg&cbp=12,43.96,,0,0.06

Dbacks: Maybe the rubberization helps stabilize it.

[Conan71]

I beg to differ. Unless it gets damaged by fire, chemical, or severly damaged by a large vehicle rollover, the maintenance here is minimal.

There maybe, not here in Oklahoma.  It seems like the OTA Turnpikes have an area being re-paved at any given time.  Arizona doesn't seem to have this problem, neither do the roads on the front range of Colorado.

Most people are not aware there are also various asphalt blends, including polymers.  I was unaware of this myself until I was at a customer's facility recently and he said they make about 85 different road blends for different requirements.

[Red Arrow]

There maybe, not here in Oklahoma.  It seems like the OTA Turnpikes have an area being re-paved at any given time.  Arizona doesn't seem to have this problem, neither do the roads on the front range of Colorado.

Most people are not aware there are also various asphalt blends, including polymers.  I was unaware of this myself until I was at a customer's facility recently and he said they make about 85 different road blends for different requirements.

Maybe Oklahoma is still using its antique specs for roadway asphalt.

[nathanm]

I remember this hill as being steeper in the 60s.  Maybe they did some dirt work.  The reason I picked it to show is that I remember the side of the road coming down hill as always being rough like a washboard.  The asphalt would move under the braking load of the vehicles.  The uphill side was never as bad.  I expect the road was all asphalt.

That one road surface does not work in 100% of all situations does not mean it isn't applicable for most. I'm primarily talking about freeways, although it is a waste to let the concrete on 71st Street, Memorial, and a few other places around town crumble rather than protecting it from the elements (and the tires).

[Teatownclown]

For those that can't freakin read like aox, Heritage relied on Politifact as its source. Politifact isn't exactly right wing.  And "the smoking chimp" is your source? Man you suck.

Your bullying attempts get weaker with time. So, wikipedia was right.

[Teatownclown]

The times of highest general prosperity in our history have coresponded to periods of high taxation. Now, in a period of historic lows in taxation, we are suffering the cosequences. Not pretending to be an economist, but if you reduce your income and haven't reduced your debts, you build up more debt. To pay them down, you need to make more income. Cutting your income further is not going to help.

Raise taxes.

[dbacks fan]

There maybe, not here in Oklahoma.  It seems like the OTA Turnpikes have an area being re-paved at any given time.  Arizona doesn't seem to have this problem, neither do the roads on the front range of Colorado.

Here there is a large amount of preventive maintenance that goes on all the time, both freeways and surface streets. Usually through closure over a weekend on the various freeway they do repair and preventive projects where they will shut down a one mile to four mile segment. I-10 the central Phoenix has the Deck Park Tunnel which gets closed two to three times a year for maintenance for everything from surface and tile repair, to a matter of washing down the walls and ceilings.

I know that OTA has always had ongoing projects for repaving for small replacement to entire resurfacing. It the rest that got deferred, forgotten about, maintenace programs.

[Red Arrow]

That one road surface does not work in 100% of all situations does not mean it isn't applicable for most many. I'm primarily talking about freeways, although it is a waste to let the concrete on 71st Street, Memorial, and a few other places around town crumble rather than protecting it from the elements (and the tires).

I think the concrete lasts longer without maintenance than asphalt but agree that an asphalt cap over 71st, Memorial, and others would be a good temporary repair.  Some good patches would need to be made in some areas prior to covering with asphalt.

[Red Arrow]

The times of highest general prosperity in our history have coresponded to periods of high taxation. Now, in a period of historic lows in taxation, we are suffering the cosequences. Not pretending to be an economist, but if you reduce your income and haven't reduced your debts, you build up more debt. To pay them down, you need to make more income. Cutting your income further is not going to help.

Raise taxes.

High taxes and prosperity may have co-existed but I will be very difficult to convince that high taxes caused prosperity.

[dbacks fan]

I think the concrete lasts longer without maintenance than asphalt but agree that an asphalt cap over 71st, Memorial, and others would be a good temporary repair.  Some good patches would need to be made in some areas prior to covering with asphalt.

The bulk of the preventative maint. here is done with slurry seal, or fog seal, and it's not only done here in the valley area, but is used on all of the highways throughout the state including up in the snow country area.

http://www.southwestslurryseal.com/


Fog seal:

Slurry seal:

[nathanm]

I think the concrete lasts longer without maintenance than asphalt but agree that an asphalt cap over 71st, Memorial

Sure, concrete will last 20 or 30 years with almost no maintenance at all, but at the end of that time you have to dig up the entire road and start from scratch like Arkansas did to most of I-40 in the late 90s/early 00s at a cost of over a billion dollars. If you overlay it with asphalt, you can grind off the asphalt, recycle it, and relay it every 5 years or so and keep a near perfect road surface indefinitely for much less total cost.

I believe they have machines now that will do the whole process in a continuous pass, stopping only for bridges.

[Red Arrow]

Sure, concrete will last 20 or 30 years with almost no maintenance at all, but at the end of that time you have to dig up the entire road and start from scratch like Arkansas did to most of I-40 in the late 90s/early 00s at a cost of over a billion dollars. If you overlay it with asphalt, you can grind off the asphalt, recycle it, and relay it every 5 years or so and keep a near perfect road surface indefinitely for much less total cost.

I believe they have machines now that will do the whole process in a continuous pass, stopping only for bridges.

As you previously noted, "we" don't do the preventative maintenance.

Aside from the really crummy road surface of 30 years, it would be interesting to see a comparison of $.  Do you happen to have one handy.  You write as though you do.

[Red Arrow]

The bulk of the preventative maint. here is done with slurry seal, or fog seal, and it's not only done here in the valley area, but is used on all of the highways throughout the state including up in the snow country area.

The Airport Authority here recently recovered the ramps and many taxiways with something thin and slurry-like.  I don't know if it's the same stuff you are talking about but after one winter, the (supposedly) sealed cracks are open again.  I don't imagine your winters in snow country are any worse than ours.