[SnakemanJohny]

Well, the Central Avenue in Calcutta, built by the British in 1911, was made of concrete. They probably did that as it was laid on a reclaimed canal. A lottery was organised to fund the road, and it lasted till mid 1970s when it had to be dug up to lay the underground railway tracks. The expansion joints were terrible, by then !

Cut and cover method was used all over Calcutta (except near the northern end -- Shyambazar crossing) so the road had to be dug up, using huge self-propelled jackhammers with caterpillar tracks.

The road was later relaid with bitumen, with terrible dips and occassional sinkholes appearing for many years. Still has an undulating surface, and is difficult to drive on at night when there is less traffic. Car sways like a boat on waves !

Prefer concrete roads for their smooth surface, and lack of potholes. Rhythmic beat of the joints and longer braking distance notwithstanding.

In clay soil based flat West Bengal, bitumen roads wear out faster, particularly because of waterlogging during heavy rains, sometimes even washing out the road foundation.

Our solution of using Mastic Asphalt (invented by Shalimar Tar Products, and now used all over India), has its own problems : a) goes very soft on hot days, b) forms rumble strips at frequently braked places (e.g. before stop lights and at turns), and c) needs to be heated and applied on the spot, causing air pollution by burning wood and old tyres.

[adisan]

From a driving experience perspective I prefer asphalt roads. They offer better grip and less noise.

[vignesh.cv]

Voted for asphalt. Anytime I've driven over concrete stretches, the way the undulations upset the vehicle and the lack of outright grip makes me a lot more cautious. It's even worse when riding a two wheeler through the same stretch. Driving on asphalt in comparison is bliss. The biggest issue is how the construction is done. I was in conversation with a friend of mine whose dad used to work for the central govt. institution for roadways. He said that our standards are on par with other countries and when implemented, our roads should also last much longer. Our unfortunate mindset of taking a shortcut with everything is why our roads in such a sorry state. Filling up potholes means just dumping tar and jelly stone with a protruding bump to remind everyone. Whereas when I was visiting the US, I noticed them marking a square / rectangular area around the crack and filling it up neatly and then using a road roller to make it flush with the rest of the road. Other than the colour difference, the road felt like one unit.

[superchamp]

Asphalt roads are much better and smoother to drive. In my experience, Concrete road skids when raining and the gap between panels is irritating on longer stretches as it makes a lot of noise and ride is bumpy going over them. If done properly, Asphalt roads can last longer.
We have many techniques for Asphalt roads now namely rubberised and recycled plastic being used.

[PRS7]

In my opinion, the 6 lane or 8 lane carriageways, NHs and any other major highways should be maintained asphalt with good quality laying and repair practices. IMHO this is the best for driver, car and environment. City roads, village roads, state highways, bypasses and other internal roads should be concrete as this has benefits of longevity.

[amavin]

Road banking and speed-breakers, I am told, are harder or cannot be done on concrete roads. If you drive the concrete stretch of Bangalore's ORR from Gorguntepalya towards Magadi Road, there are a number of places where traffic joins the ORR where vehicles are already at decent speeds. There are strips to alert drivers of an impending junction, but for the most part, they can just be driven over without a speed reduction.

The Koramangala Indiranagar Intermediate Ring Road has a notorious curve (I've seen more than one car take off from that point and lodge itself inside the military area flying across the other side of the road). Shudder to think of potential accidents on that stretch if that becomes a concrete road.

So, in some ways, concrete roads are a double-edged sword.

[Strider24]

Last month I drove my Corolla Altis around 2000 kms on the MP highways, Chhatarpur- Indore and then from Indore to Pune. The drive was smoothest of all I have ever driven. I even got a phenomenal fuel mileage of 18 km/l between Indore & Bhopal. Reason- roads were made of Asphalt, with Bhopal-Indore section having freshly laid tarmac.

In the same trip , crossing Indore via bypass road ( made with concrete) was not so good experience, specially on flyovers where concrete joints would cause unpleasant sound & rough drive.

My take- as a demanding user I would prefer asphalt roads anytime. the silent and smooth drive is unmatched. However as a long term user of roads on long drive I don't want to see frequent road diversions and the badly patched roads every few years. It kills the speed and momentum, reduce the average speed and hence lower fuel efficiency.

As far as incidents of expressway tyre burst are concerned- shouldn't the rules for adequate tyre pressure be different on concrete road from asphalt considering the relative heat generated in both surface is different and hence the increase in pressure which often result in burst/blowout too could be different.

e.g. for my car's city drive or normal highway drive the recommended tyre pressure is 30 psi in all 4 tyres, but with full load ( 4 passenger + full boot space occupied) I keep it to 32 psi. Should this be lesser( may be 31 or 30 psi) when I drive on expressway? Experts please advise on this.

In other words the rules of drive should change when you are on a different surface.

[John Jacob13128]

Any day prefer the Asphalt Road, not only in terms of driving pleasure - Just plain good to look at too

I am a bit surprised that FE increases on Asphalt (due to better Load bearing capability) - I expected an increased rolling resistance on Asphalt (given the jarring noise increase) to lower FE. Learnt something today!

Also concrete does not allow the water to seep underground easily and might further worsen the grip and hence braking distance on wet / rainy roads.

Overall, just blindly concreting the roads does no good to anybody. We need to have a mix of Asphalt, Concrete, interlocking etc on the basis of scientific principles.

[vjbox]

Originally Posted by batish

You missed the tyre heating point. Concrete tends to generate more heat in tyres than bitumen. So in a way it is way less forgiving then asphalt if the tyre pressures are low. One of the reasons why Yamuna Expressway has higher than usual rate of tyre failure.

And not to mention the annoying whining and howling noise from the tyres while on the concrete roads. I usually pray for the concrete sections to end soon and I breath a sign of relief as soon I see smoother tarmacs.

[pram_ind]

My Vote : Asphalt Road.

A good laid Asphalt road, especially Rubberized Asphalt used in most Kerala roads has a longer life and less prone to damages. ex : Ottapalam to Shoranur Road in Kerala, which is still undamaged and smooth even after 15 years.

For a more environmental impact, waste plastic can be used instead of Rubber.

[normaltusker]

Voted for Asphalt. I generally find asphalt to be much more quieter than concrete. It also is more confidence inspiring since I feel that rubber adheres better due to higher rolling friction.

[PreludeSH]

Voted concrete roads since I spend more time travelling in the city. Nothing beats them. With city roads not having proper drainage, asphalt roads become worse sooner. Sometimes you see potholes appear overnight or after a single rain.
For highways, asphalt ones are much smoother and last better compared to the same in cities.

[ampere]

Sounding like a noob.

If concrete is long lasting, why not make them and add a layer of tar on top for the grip and smoothness? I always wondered why not? Especially for heavy corridors like GQ/ NS-EW corridors.

[MissionManali]

Originally Posted by ampere

If concrete is long lasting, why not make them and add a layer of tar on top for the grip and smoothness?

mainly-concrete sub base is not as stable as in asphalt sub base. This can result in road to sunk in and hence cracks.

Theoretically, it still can be done by making sub grade hard(stable), but it will take whole economics out of it

[fhdowntheline]

Asphalt over concrete any day as far as I am concerned. I would especially like to point out the amount of fine dust that concrete roads generate due to the vehicles. This is a major hazard in my view. The heat reflected off the concrete is also perhaps contributing to urban heat island effects.