h a l f b a k e r y"It would work, if you can find alternatives to each of the steps involved in this process."
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I did a search and didnt find this idea, so here goes...
I was thinking recently after coming across this portion of
howstuffworks:
[admin: URL moved to 'link,' below.]
So I thought that roads could also have these small spheres
that held a glue that reacted with the road material
itself,
and as time went by the road "would actually get
stronger!..."
Sounds like a great idea to me...
HowStuffWorks: Self-Healing Spacecraft
http://www.howstuff...ling-spacecraft.htm
(I fixed bristolz's link...) [bristolz, Apr 13 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Paving Innovations from asphalt.com
http://www.asphalt.com/innovat.html
good stuff - all kinds of innovations, straight from the stinky roadman's mouth. [white, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
[link]
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I could use an ego like that. |
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Croissant, because I like the idea, and because it reminded me of another idea I had a few years ago :) |
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Grrr. Cut and paste 101, I must have failed. |
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I'm worried that any flexibility in the surface would lead to the formation of ruts. But tarmac melts at comparatively low temperatures, so it should be possible to periodically heat it, let it smooth itself out, and cool it down again. |
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Here in the Northeastern US, we have to contend with the expansion and shrinkage of the roads during hot and cold seasons. The results are cracks, dips and the ever popular 'Frost Heaves' sign. |
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Perhaps a self healing road would not be reactive to extremes in temperature and would keep surface distortion to a minimum. Interesting idea. |
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I've seen road resurfacing machines that come close to baking this. They move along the road, chew up the old pavement, heat it up and add a bit of fresh tar, and lay it down behind them.
Not exactly self-healing, but the machines are pretty spiffy. |
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DeGroof's comment reminds me of my dad's oft-repeated wish for such a device, and so sparked me on a Google-hunt: does such a machine exist? |
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http://www.asphalt.com/innovations/innrecycler.html
- close, not quite the all-in-one solution I want. |
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DeGroof, got a link for us? |
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//as time went by the road "would actually get stronger!..."//
That sounds like concrete to me. |
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Imagine...pulling up to a stop sign right after the road cracks...and it super-gluing your tires down. Besides, the space ship technology is all about "tiny cracks", not the inch-wide suckers I always see on Interstates. |
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