Introduction
Asphalt roads wear faster than concrete roads, but in many countries, concrete roads are being replaced by asphalt roads because they are cheaper, even though concrete roads have several advantages. In addition, there are specific difficulties in producing concrete for roads, which will be discussed later. In this study, one can learn about the advantages and disadvantages of these road paving materials.
Reasons why Asphalt Is Used for Roads Rather than Concrete
One of the main reasons for the low prevalence of cement concrete roads is the lack of cement produced based on standardized clinker, which is used for constructing such road surfaces. Most cement plants do not have an appropriate level of production automation and continuous quality control of clinker, which often has severe fluctuations in mineralogical composition, and, accordingly, cannot be clinker of a normalized piece (Horvath & Hendrickson, 1998). Thus, only the emergence of new, fully automated cement plants with a high level of quality control will make it possible to obtain cement for constructing cement concrete pavements of the required quality. The following reason is the advantage of asphalt over concrete. The main advantage of asphalt for road construction is its economy. Its cost is significantly less than the cost of concrete. The structure of an asphalt road takes much less time than the construction of a concrete road (Horvath & Hendrickson, 1998). This is because asphalt dries faster than concrete.
Conclusion
Summarizing all the above facts, one can conclude that asphalt is used more often than concrete due to its cheapness and ease of production. Given such attractive advantages, asphalt also has the disadvantage of wearing quickly. But despite this, repairing asphalt roads is easy and inexpensive. In addition, it is desirable to produce concrete for roads in the region where the road is being built, and as mentioned above, this requires a plant that includes many nuances.
Reference
Horvath, A., & Hendrickson, C. (1998). Comparison of environmental implications of asphalt and steel-reinforced concrete pavements. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1626(1), 105–113. Web.