Tvov wrote:
What always gets me in New England, is Massachusetts. I95 and I91 are paved beautifully, until you get to bridges. I guess they are saving money or something by not paving bridges? You'll be cruising along at 65mph (or 13mph in traffic) and then WHAM your TT flips over your truck as you cross a bridge. My truck seemingly has bounced sideways sometimes going over a bridge due to patches or height changes.
I really don't get it... it seems like Mass DOT is intentionally leaving bridges unpaved?
The problem is you can't resurface a bridge like you do the rest of the highway. Old bridges are typically made of concrete and don't have an asphalt layer on top.
You can't simply add an asphalt coating on top either because you would no longer be able to inspect the concrete and there would be too much weight on the bridge to be supported within its design limitations.
You can't scrape a layer of concrete off the top either because that would weaken the bridge.
When concrete bridges are designed, they must retain the concrete as it was originally built. No more, no less and no modifications without lots of cost and engineering.
