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The Water Cooler
General Discussion
Why are Oklahoma's roads so crappy?
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<blockquote data-quote="CHenry" data-source="post: 2588829" data-attributes="member: 6281"><p>It comes down to money. Period. TX has a little over twice the lane miles (State highways and interstate) than OK has (considering the land mass, think about that) but their population (read tax base) is 9 times larger. They have a huge amount of oil and gas money compared to us. The richer the state, the better their roads are...as a fundamental rule.</p><p>Also mentioned earlier was the soil type. OK has a very diverse soil composition from corner to corner so this is a constant challenge to deal with when it comes to a particular pavement design. Clay versus blow sand versus rock etc. We don't always get it right.</p><p>Weather was also mentioned. Freeze thaw cycles that happen almost daily in OK from Nov. to Feb. and is a real issue. Texas hardly freezes so no "cycle" of freeze thaw. KS freezes and stays that way longer periods of time so less "cycles".</p><p>The problem with the cycles, when a thaw occurs, water infiltrates the pavement (when ice or snow are present), when it refreezes that night it expands causing damage. This happens almost every 24 hours except a few days in Jan. that never thaws completely. I don't know what other states exactly deal with this but I would say its never an issue north of Ponca City, East of AR to the coast (south of KY) and most of the west. The western states are mostly either frozen or not in winter with a few exceptions.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CHenry, post: 2588829, member: 6281"] It comes down to money. Period. TX has a little over twice the lane miles (State highways and interstate) than OK has (considering the land mass, think about that) but their population (read tax base) is 9 times larger. They have a huge amount of oil and gas money compared to us. The richer the state, the better their roads are...as a fundamental rule. Also mentioned earlier was the soil type. OK has a very diverse soil composition from corner to corner so this is a constant challenge to deal with when it comes to a particular pavement design. Clay versus blow sand versus rock etc. We don't always get it right. Weather was also mentioned. Freeze thaw cycles that happen almost daily in OK from Nov. to Feb. and is a real issue. Texas hardly freezes so no "cycle" of freeze thaw. KS freezes and stays that way longer periods of time so less "cycles". The problem with the cycles, when a thaw occurs, water infiltrates the pavement (when ice or snow are present), when it refreezes that night it expands causing damage. This happens almost every 24 hours except a few days in Jan. that never thaws completely. I don't know what other states exactly deal with this but I would say its never an issue north of Ponca City, East of AR to the coast (south of KY) and most of the west. The western states are mostly either frozen or not in winter with a few exceptions. [/QUOTE]
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Why are Oklahoma's roads so crappy?
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