At least they have had tarmac for some time, ours is just a dirt track. But they are going to dig it up and put in drains and concrete over.

 

On 9/11/2016 at 9:07 AM, recom273 said:

I witnessed this once, one guy driving the pickup, one guy in advance brushing out the water and loose gravel, one on the back of the truck throwing the Tarmac off and one guy spreading it with a rake .. Tamping ? Let the cars do that.

I did say "dont tamp it down"

4 hours ago, kannot said:

I did say "dont tamp it down"

 

Err .. So I can't agree with you ? 

 

I cant mention that normally it's tamped or rolled but on both our recollections they didn't .. Oh, Ok.

 

There is only so much that can be done in any country to upkeep the roads. I am always appalled by the state of some of the roads in the UK when I go back and it is the same in every country. Many much vaunted Autobahns are in a bad state of repair and the cost of upkeep is horrendous.

 

At least Thailand is moving ahead slowly and the road network is much, much more extensive and better maintained than it was 20 years ago. It also depends which province you live in. Buri Ram for instance has a better road programme than most of its adjacent provinces.

 

I was just reading an interesting article about the latest developments in "Solar Energised Roads" where an extensive maze of pipes is installed under the top layers of concrete and used to collect heat from the sun. In cold countries this can be used to remove snow and ice and linked to heat pumps can supply energy to adjacent building for heating or cooling.

 

This was  big deal in Holland a few years ago, but not followed up very well, although it seems to be advancing in Stockholm. However the cost of 1km of road would allow about 500km of Thai standard roads to be built, so its not going to be seen here in the near future, although the solar energy available in Thailand would provide a lot of air conditioning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dirt road from our village to nowhere was surfaced with Asphalt in January. It looked wonderful, just like a B road in the UK - lane markings, smooth, mile posts and warning signs on the bends. And it is only used by less than a hundred vehicles a day (not counting motorbikes), it was a joy to drive on. As to WHY it was built is another matter (obviously a land owner on it has friends in the road department), but now the road has ruts and potholes over 6" deep - in just 7 months. No foundation, just a few inches of gravel topped with thin layer of Asphalt, As soon as the wet season started the road started to deform with every large truck that used it. At the current rate, it will be back to a dirt road in 2 years. Maybe i will start collecting banana plants .......

.....Doesnt look too bad compared to the country side roads around Nakhon Phanom!