Potholes Drive You Crazy? New Solution Could Solve Pothole Problems Forever

Each and every spring, pothole surface with no regard for vehicles. They blow-out tires, destroy suspension components, and even result in collisions. Advancements in road building technologies has decreased the occurrence of these car destroying potholes, but elimination is nowhere in sight. A constant driving procedure involves the dodging of these destructive potholes to save your precious car.

Rather than constantly patching these problem areas and searching for a new road construction method that will eliminate the problem, what if we turned roadbuilding efforts towards highlighting the problem. Highlighting potholes may seem to be a far fetched idea, but it could just work.

Here's the idea put forth by the Safe Street Initiative created by students at the Milan Polytechnic University in Italy. Roads could be built with an underlayment made up of a high contrasting color, let's say bright orange or yellow. This underlayment would be covered with traditional concrete or asphalt. When the road surface becomes broken, the underlying bright, contrasting color will become visible. The bright color will alert motorists of the upcoming pothole and help them avert the dangers ahead.

The idea is simple enough and would likely work very well in helping motorists avoid the potential danger that lies ahead, but many insist that it's the wrong approach towards the problem. Many still believe that better road technology could prevent potholes altogether and would rather focus funding and efforts on something that solves the problem rather than on something that highlights the problem.

The idea will be tested later this year outside of Milan to see if its a viable and cost effective solution to the problematic potholes. The test will assess the cost of coloring the concrete and compare it with the cost saved from repairing roads and damaged vehicles. If the test and cost analysis is successful, the specially colored roads may see more widespread use.

Is this a solution to the pothole problem that plagues the nation? It may not be a solution but it certainly could prevent stranded motorists with blown-out tires, drivers with car damage from potholes, and collision resulting from damage encountered from the pothole.

Source: Cars.com