roads

evacuate entire neighborhoods when roads disappear

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In July 2021, Zhengzhou floods they left a scene that went around the world: excavators advancing between streets turned into rivers to remove residents trapped because there were no longer roads. Five years later, China is facing the same problem again, although this time the answer seems straight out of a science fiction movie. 2026 tests China. Torrential rains have been going on for months hitting the center and south of the countrywith dozens of deaths, hundreds of thousands of people affected and massive evacuations. Reuters described Roads blocked, cities partially flooded and rescue teams forced to use boats, swimmers and improvised means to reach isolated areas. In fact, the emergency reached a new dimension when Typhoon Maysak hit Guangxi, forcing the evacuation of more than 130,000 people and leaving thousands of students trapped by water. Traditional rescue does not work. The floods left a repeated image again and again: entire neighborhoods where it was not possible to circulate overland. That problem has led China to deploy a ever-growing fan of solutions, one where we have seen from drones capable of maintaining communications or transporting cargo to heavy machinery adapted to move through water. It is not an improvised strategy, but an evolution of the lessons learned after previous catastrophes such as those in Zhengzhou. A gigantic floating “creature”. And among all the means deployed there was one that caught special attention. Several local media have shown a huge self-propelled pontoon used to evacuate thousands of people when the roads had completely disappeared. The Chinese media baptized as a kind of “rescue aircraft carrier”, a huge floating platform capable of transporting hundreds of people at a time to places where conventional vehicles can no longer reach. The new thing is the strategy. As of this writing, there are no independent sources indicating that this platform is a newly introduced development. Everything indicates that it derives from the self-propelled pontoons that for decades have employed military engineers to build bridges floating and crossing rivers with heavy vehicles. Rather, what is novel here seems to be its adaptation for large-scale civilian evacuations, turning a military technology into a kind of gigantic emergency ferry. The great teaching. The Guangxi floods have revealed something more important than a floating platform, which too. While much of the world continues to rely almost exclusively on ships and helicopters to respond to these types of disasters, China is incorporating dronesamphibious platforms and large floating systems to keep a city operational even when it no longer has streets. Maybe that marine “creature” It may be the most spectacular image, but it probably only represents one more piece in a much broader strategy to respond to increasingly frequent extreme phenomena. Image | CCTV In Xataka | In China, the drone that brings you your order and the drone that evacuates you from a flood are sometimes the same drone In Xataka | The mega transfer: China is executing the largest hydraulic engineering project in history before our eyes

Madrid’s plan to renew its roads this summer

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Madrid Calle 30 has launched its annual renewal campaign of the pavement on the roads under its management. This year, the operation has started on the A-6 highway and will also reach sections of the M-30 tunnel, as well as several critical points on the capital’s roads. The investment amounts to around 6.2 million euros and the work will continue throughout the summer. Asphalt renewal campaign. In order to adapt the pavement in its road network, Madrid City Council expanded last January the actions of Madrid Calle 30. And in addition to the M-30 roads itself, the municipal company now adds the management of all the access roads to the capital, that is, the A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, A-5, A-6, A-42, M-11, M-23, M-500 and M-607. In total, Madrid Calle 30 is responsible for the maintenance of 2.7 million square meters of road. And this summer’s campaign will act on 9% of that surface. What exactly do the jobs consist of? The performances are divided into three phases. First, milling is carried out, which consists of removing the surface layer of the damaged or worn pavement. The new asphalt agglomerate is then applied. Finally, the road markings are repainted. For the entire campaign, the use of about 19,000 tons of asphalt mixtures is estimated. The works will be carried out at night to minimize the impact on traffic. Four fronts of action. The campaign is deployed in four different areas: A-6 and its Bus-HOV lane (160,000 m²): these are the largest works. They span from Calle de la Princesa, at the confluence with the Moncloa interchange, to the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela. Work on the Bus-HOV lane began on June 19 and will continue on June 26 and 27. The A-6 in the inbound direction will be paved from July 15 to 28, and in the outbound direction, from July 26 to August 17. M-30 tunnel (50,000 m²): the interior section between the south junction-legazpi plaza and the Marqués de Vadillo-Prámides roundabout, in both directions of circulation. Vallecas Bridge (12,500 m²): the action will be carried out once the waterproofing work is completed, works that are integrated as part of the rehabilitation of the bridge and are still in progress. O’Donnell board with the M-23 (20,000 m²): in the outward direction, completing the campaign for this summer. And all at night. As we have mentioned, the reason is simply to reduce traffic impacts to a minimum on a network that is already congested every day. Alternative routes will be enabled on each section, which can be consulted through the website. Signage will also be reinforced at the affected points. Extension. This Madrid Calle 30 campaign is part of Operation Asphalt 2026 that is being prepared by the Works and Equipment Area of ​​the Madrid City Council, and which in the coming weeks will extend similar actions to the 21 districts of the city. So the works that have started with the M-30 and its accesses are just the tip of the iceberg of the entire maintenance plan that is expected for this summer. In Xataka | In February, historic rains broke the roads. Málaga has just received the go-ahead to repair the A-7 and A-45

The Government confirms that 90% of main roads already have fast charging nearby

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In recent years, we have seen how Spain has been updated in terms of the number of vehicle chargers. What a good part of them don’t work It’s a different story, but the truth is that infrastructure is taking on a different tone in the country. This same issue is what the Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard, has recently focused on, during the opening of the Electric Vehicle Fair in Madrid (VEM) has taken stock of the state of the charging infrastructure. The data on which it has placed the most emphasis is that nine out of every ten kilometers of the main road network already have a charging point of at least 100 kW less than 60 kilometers away. Why does this data matter? The European Union approved the AFIR regulation (Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation) to force member countries to ensure that their main transport corridors have high-power chargers at sufficient distances. The specific objective for 2030 is for there to be points of at least 150 kW every 60 kilometers on these roads. What has confirmed Groizard is that Spain is already close to that threshold in coverage, although there is still room to reach the power required by European regulations. Moves Corridors. The main tool to achieve these objectives is the program Moves Corridorspromoted by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition. On June 3, the IDAE published the definitive resolution proposal of its first call: 337 fast and ultra-fast charging projects, with powers of at least 150 kW, will receive just over 97 million euros in public aid, of the 200 million that the program had allocated. The remaining amount (more than 102 million euros) will be added to other items planned to finance a second call, expected in 2027, according to Administration sources. consulted by La Tribuna de Automoción. Shadow areas. The selection criterion for the projects in this first call has not been to install chargers where there was already infrastructure, but rather The so-called “shadow areas” have been prioritizedstretches where there were hardly any alternatives for those traveling by electric. And the problem with the charging network in Spain is not the points that there are in total, but in which places they were positioned. Accumulating chargers in large cities does not solve a long trip in the rest of the country. The market is also changing sides. Groizard also took advantage of his intervention at the fair to highlight the number of registrations last May. According to ANFAC data (Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers), diesel reached just 3.7% of sales, while pure electric cars reached 11%, a historical monthly record in Spain. Adding plug-in hybrids, electrification already exceeds 20% of the market. “The excuse of recharging has its days numbered,” warned Groizard. There are currently more than 55,000 public charging points in operation (more than gas stations in Spain). Of course, 69% of all of them It is made up of slow chargers with up to 22kW of power. The remaining 31% looks like this: 2,253 charging points between 22 and 50kW. 9,015 charging points between 50 and 150 kW. 3,206 charging points between 150 and 250 kW. 2,469 points of 250kW or more. Which still doesn’t quite add up. The progress in coverage is real, but the state of the network still has cracks. And it is that according to the organization’s data As of the first quarter of 2026, more than 17,000 charging points were still out of service, 24% of the total. The causes range from breakdowns to installed points that are not yet connected to the network. Communities such as the Balearic Islands (45.5% of inoperative points) or Galicia (39.5%) have the worst records. What’s coming now? According to share from La Tribuna de Automoción, in the coming weeks, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition will submit to public consultation the National Action Framework (MAN), a document that will take stock of the state of the charging infrastructure at the end of 2025 and will set the roadmap for 2026 and 2027, including the next call for Moves Corredores. It will also be the first official and updated photograph of where Spain really is in this deployment. Cover image | Andrew Roberts In Xataka | In February, historic rains broke the roads. Málaga has just received the go-ahead to repair the A-7 and A-45

Faced with extreme temperatures, France needs to Spanishize its roads

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A few years ago I was telling a friend that in the legendary Quebrantahuesos cycle tour that is organized every year in the Aragonese Pyrenees, I had seen the asphalt melt. He told me that it was so hot that the animals looked for the nearest bush in sight to hide in the shade and that the bicycle frame had been marked by particles of asphalt that were jumping with the rolling of the runners. I had a hard time believing this last one. But cycling lovers will remember that 2003 Tour de France in which Joseba Beloki crashed in a bumpy corner and Lance Armstrong saw one of his strongest rivals disappear from the race to win the centenary edition. That day it was so hot that, they say The Countrythe asphalt was melting. Those days of July more than 20 years ago, Europe was suffering a heat wave for which France was not prepared. July was just a warning, the month of August was even worse with days and days of chained days of temperatures so high that it is estimated that Almost 15,000 people died in the neighboring country. But from France they warn: this year looks bad. The director of Metéo France, Sophie Voirin, has already warned that this same week the maximum temperatures ever recorded in the country could be exceeded. The consequences are already noticeable in the daily lives of the French. Schools that have closed, sixty departments on alert, 70 trains canceled… and roads that are melting. Six kilometers that melt Audrey Bardotvice-president of the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departmental Council in charge of Infrastructure and Mobility, confirmed to BFM that six kilometers of roads in his department were melting due to the high heat recorded. In actu They even point out that the problem with these roads melting is not only that cars throw tar in their path (which in some cases, they point out, extend it for more than a kilometer), but also that puddles of melted asphalt have formed. Meurthe-et-Moselle is located in the east of the country, almost bordering France, but in Normandy just at the other end they find themselves in the same situation. Over there, those responsible point out that the roads were repaired at the end of 2025 to alleviate the damage caused by the harsh winter rains but that the patches are melting because they are not prepared to withstand the 40ºC they are experiencing these days, instead of the usual 27-28ºC. Are extreme temperatures They represent a challenge for French infrastructure. This same year it was decided to pour a mixture of white gravel on the asphalt to reduce the temperature somewhat and prevent the heat from melting the asphalt. In 2022, the Tour de France had a tanker truck which was cooling the road to prevent the asphalt from being damaged by the passage of cyclists. This year there has been talk about how the heat will affect the most famous cycling event in the world since February. The problem for France is, as they pointed out about the roads of Normandy, that its asphalt is not prepared for such high temperatures but must also be ready to drain winter rains and face colder conditions. A more extreme climate, with more intense cold and unbearable heat, is very complicated to manage when designing roads. These roads prepared for greater porosity against rain use bitumens that perform worse when the temperature rises. They are more flexible but the point at which they melt comes sooner. On the contrary, we do not see this in Spain because We opt for asphalts that better withstand high temperatures. The problem is that they are also less flexible pathways that fracture more easily. Our problem has been just the opposite.. When we have suffered the most is when we have experienced heavy and constant rains for days. This has caused numerous damages that they continue to be repaired these days because our roads have been designed thinking about the extreme temperatures of summer and not the phenomena as humid as those we experienced last winter. Photo | In Xataka | If we already feared about the state of our roads, we have one more reason to worry: the price of asphalt is skyrocketing

In February, historic rains broke the roads. Málaga has just received the go-ahead to repair the A-7 and A-45

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2026 started with rain. With a lot of rain. With so much rain that in the first 40 days of the year The registration tripled the average between 1991 and 2020. Curiously, rainfall was scarce in the Cantabrian Sea but in the south there were days of lots of water and even fear. This also had its consequences on the roads. Consequences that are patched now. Lots of water. As we said, the year started in Spain with torrential rains. At the end of January, when it had already rained well, we were preparing for a succession of storms which was going to occupy us a good part of February. And so it was. The problem, in fact, was not that it rained. The problem is that it rained. On very wet ground. The problem beyond the rains is that the soil could not drain as much water. The situation was especially delicate in the south. In areas of Andalusia, towns were evacuated for fear that water will literally gush out of the ground. All of this had its consequences on the roads. Dips, potholes and cars in the ditch. With such an amount of water on the ground, the damage to the asphalt was almost expected. We saw videos on social networks in which a string of stopped cars was shown for being victims of sinkholes. And others in which it was pointed out that a gas station kept receiving tow trucks to rescue those who were left stranded there. We said that it was almost predictable because, whether or not there is an investment deficit on our roads, our asphalts are not prepared to withstand so many days of intense rain. The bitumens used and the porosity of the asphalt It is designed for drier and warmer climates and consequently it withstands heat better but is more fragile. On the contrary, in humid climates bitumen is more malleable but the road can even melt if the heat is extreme. Until now. Once the damage to the asphalt was done, it remained to be known how long it would take the State to act to reverse the damage caused. The truth is that those days of February were complicated on the roads and interventions had to be recorded to, for example, solve landslides. But once this crisis was overcome, it was not until now in the month of June that the expenditure of 20.8 million euros was approved to repair the pavement of the A-7 and A-45 as they pass through Malaga. The interventions will extend over 156,087 kilometers, according to the Ministry of Transport. Some progress. In the note published to explain the interventions, Transport points out that interventions of this type have already been carried out in Estepona, Málaga, Nerja, Vélez-Málaga, Marbella, Casabermeja, Rincón de la Victoria and Antequera. If the schedule is met, it will not be until September when the works will be completed, “although this period may be conditioned by the evolution of the work and weather conditions,” the Ministry emphasizes. As for the works themselves, the actions will focus on milling the pavement in poor condition, replacing the wearing layers with new hot bituminous mixes, replacing the horizontal signage and rehabilitating the service roads and adjacent branches. Photo | Ministry of Transport In Xataka | We knew that we drove badly in the rain, but science has studied to what extent it alters something crucial: metastability

Spain will take on the maintenance of 1,000 more km of roads: the end of "shadow tolls" comes at the worst time

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One thinks that there are roads in Spain that are free because you don’t pass a barrier and you don’t pay when you reach your destination. You may think that this is not entirely true, that it is our taxes that support these roads. And there is a true part of it. But not everything. Spain uses what is known as “shadow toll” on a good part of its “free” roads. It is a system by which the driver does not pay directly for the use of the highway but the State is doing it for him, since the vehicles that pass through said roads are counted. These shadow tolls have been used for a quarter of a century. Murcia was the first region to use this means of indirect management to getting your RM-15 “free” but the system was replicating. Right now, it is the means used on what are known as “first generation highways.” And those highways will become managed by the State next year. Unless otherwise chosen. In Xataka Until 2020, Spain had the most praised roads in Europe. Now it has something else: a hole of 13,000 million euros 1,000 more kilometers of public management The operation of a shadow toll is simple: the State pays for each and every one of the cars that use that road. That money goes to the company that manages the maintenance of the road, who must preserve its good condition. The Ministry of Transport indicates on its website that the State Highway Network extends 12,091 kilometers throughout the country. Of this figure, 10,656 are highways and multilane roads. Of them, “about 1000 km, the so-called First Generation Highwaysare managed indirectly through concession contracts using the shadow toll method, which is paid directly by the administration.” Those First Generation Highways They are A-1, A-2, A-3, A-31 and A-4whose major reforms in ten sections led the State to opt for the formula of this shadow toll in which the concessionaires assumed the cost of the work in exchange for managing its maintenance, charging for the volume of cars registered in them. In Xataka Spanish roads have a problem in 2026: repairing a kilometer of asphalt is more expensive than ever The contracts end in December 2026 and the intention is for the State to once again take care of the maintenance of these roads. With this reversal of tolls, almost 1,000 more kilometers will be added to the current management of the State Land Transport Infrastructure Society (SEITT). This state management will imply that the State will stop paying the concessionaire company but will have to disburse some 79.4 million euros to be collected in the General State Budgets, according to data from Seopan (Association of Infrastructure Construction Companies and Concessionaires) collected by 20Minutes. The Government’s calculations, on the contrary, indicate that the savings will be 200 million euros annually, they point out in The Economist. The plan to reverse these tolls comes from afar. In 2024Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport, has already started talks to assume the management of these ten sections. So, one of the critical points was whether the concessionaire companies had to make any more investment to deliver the road in perfect conditions and complying with the minimum requirements required when signing the contract. {“videoId”:”x9tnvi4″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Why YOUR NEXT CAR WILL SURELY BE CHINESE”, “tag”:”Webedia-prod”, “duration”:”614″} Now, one of the conflicting points is what will happen to the 500 employees who currently work for these companies. It has been valued, they count in 20 Minutes Let the State be the one to surrogate them and take charge of their payrolls. The maintenance of the roads and the involvement of the State has been one of the controversial topics of the last few months. Seopan has been ensuring for some time that there is a shortfall in money dedicated to maintaining roads. The opinion seems clearly influenced by their intention that we pay for roads that right now are “free” but the truth is that This winter’s torrential rains put the debate back on the table. In 2025 they have already dedicated 1,910 million euros to repair roads. This year it has been put on the table dedicate about 1,000 million euroswhich transport associations such as CETM and the Association of Infrastructure Conservation and Exploitation Companies (ACEX) consider insufficient, ensuring that spending should reach 2,000 million euros. In Xataka Spain has one road completely collapsed and another completely empty. They run parallel and arrive at the same place Various associations assure that Spain has a deficit in investment in its roads. According to ACEX, we drag a deficit of 5 billion euros In investment in Spanish asphalt, although not everything corresponds to state management, the money is also distributed among the autonomous communities. The Spanish Road Association (AEC), however, says that half of Spain’s asphalt is in poor condition and that the hole reaches 13,000 million euros (a figure provided before the February rains). Data that the DGT itself accepts as good, which was collected on its website. Starting in December, another 1,000 kilometers will be added to maintain. Just when repairing a kilometer of asphalt is more expensive than ever. Photo |Ministry of Transport In Xataka |Spain has dozens of unique abandoned roads. Now he wants to save them by turning them into “historic roads” (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news Spain will take on the maintenance of 1,000 more km of roads: the end of “shadow tolls” comes at the worst time was originally published in Xataka by Alberto de la Torre .

“It is not wild boars that cross our roads; it is our roads that cross their habitats”

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In 1959, the biologist Jane Goodall documented how newly opened roads in East Africa altered ancestral routes displacement of primates and other mammals, forcing them to change movement and feeding patterns. Decades later, that early observation has become one of the great certainties of modern ecology: a road never divides just one landscape. The city as an invisible barrier. Modern cities are often thought of as perfect machines for moving people: cars, subways, scooters, roads and avenues designed to optimize each human journey. But that logic has a hidden cost. Under that network of asphalt and glass, thousands of animals coexist in an environment that for them functions as a permanent trap. Urban mobility, so efficient for us, becomes for wildlife a territory full of obstacles, noise and death points that alter their daily lives and reduce their living space. The noise that forces change. One of the deepest impacts is the acoustic. Many birds depend on song to defend territory, find a mate or communicate, but the constant noise Traffic has forced many species to change their behavior. Some raise their pitch, others advance their songs at dawn and others they just disappear. Adapting has a price: more energy expenditure, less reproductive efficiency and constant stress that breaks balances built over thousands of years. Glass, cars and silent deaths. They counted on a Vanguard report that the deadliest threat is often not even seen. Glass surfaces, transparent screens and illuminated infrastructure cause thousands of bird collisions each year. Robins, chiffchaffs and thrushes are among the most affected speciestrapped by an architecture that to the human eye is neutral, but for them it is an invisible trap. Added to this is road traffic, which turns secondary roads and urban roads into authentic corridors of mortality, especially for amphibians during their migrations. They are not the ones who invade. Here comes the idea that summarizes the true change of outlook. As the ecologist states Joan Pino in the middle“it is not wild boars or roe deer that cross our roads; it is our roads that cross their habitats.” The phrase dismantles a widespread perception: that fauna breaks into human spaces. The reality is the inverse. For decades we have fragmented forests, natural corridors and passageways with roads, train tracks and housing estates. When a wild boar appears on a highway or a roe deer in a district, is not invading anything; He is trying to move through a territory that was always his. The price of cutting up nature. That cut has measurable consequences. In Catalonia, accidents with wildlife have been doubled in the last decade, already exceeding several thousand a year. In that sense, it is not only a question of road safety, but a sign that ecological connectivity is failing. Spaces like Collseroladespite their proximity to large green areas, are becoming increasingly isolated due to traffic density and the proliferation of infrastructure. Physical distance matters less than the hostility of the middle ground. Rethinking the shared city. It is possible that the solution will not only involve building isolated wildlife crossings, although they remain essential. The challenge is much broader: design permeable territories where biodiversity can move without encountering lethal barriers every few hundred meters. Glazing adapted for birds, less aggressive lighting for bats, green corridors and less private traffic are part of this new logic. From this prism, the city of the 21st century can no longer be thought of as an exclusively human space, it will have to be understood, increasingly, as a shared ecosystem where moving does not imply expelling or silencing the rest of the invisible neighbors. Image | x In Xataka | In Spain we are putting GPS on wild boars to follow their wanderings. And we are discovering surprising things In Xataka | An “enemy” is invading the United Kingdom on a large scale and it is one of the most intelligent it has faced: the octopus

Japan wanted its roads to be more than just a place of passage. And they thought of something: vending machines

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There are many, many things that catch your attention when you arrive in Japan. At first, it is difficult to understand how this country of ancient traditions and quiet Buddhist or Shinto temples that seem to be everywhere can mix with the most hilarious bustle of stores like the Don Quixote. As the days go by, little by little, one begins to assimilate what one sees and begins to focus on issues just as curious but not as striking. When you want to realize you are in the konbini in turn choosing which of the 12 types of cold coffee and the eight hot ones you want the most. Or if you dare with that lemon soda marked by some kanji as attractive as they are threatening. A few days later, you are picking up any of those soft drinks in the middle of a road, in a layby where there is nothing… Where there is nothing but a vending machine. And then you ask yourself: but what is this machine doing here? Vending machine culture And in Japan there is something as ubiquitous as shrines: vending machines. The Japanese have a passion for jidouhanbaiki either jihanki. Obviously, the most famous and used are those that sell something to drink, but there are all kinds of them and for all kinds of objects. My colleague Javier Pastor already pointed out in 2017 that there were an estimated five million vending machines distributed throughout the country. Some with objects as extravagant “like this one from used panties either it’s poop“. But in addition to selling products, these vending machines have found another function: that of promoting national and inland tourism by road. The country has been fighting rural depopulation for years and has found in vending machines a great support for travelers to opt for the car and motorcycle instead of the very crowded bullet train. The formula is as simple as it is Japanese: make the traveler comfortable. With that premise, many vending machines have been popping up on lay-bys and rest areas in the country. A tremendously simple formula for the traveler to stop and even deviates from its path. With a density of less than 40 inhabitants for each machine vending machine, this option has not only become a tool to assist the traveler, It is already a tourist attraction in itself. And that has encouraged an increase in the number of people who see here as another incentive to go out with their car or motorcycle for the weekend. When the Japanese have an obsession, it is very difficult for others to catch up to them. If we talk about motorcycling and motorsports, Japan is one of the most cultural countries. Hence, some roads have simply become a hobby. One where the customer simply pays to drive but to which some auxiliary services have been added to improve the experience. like the ubiquitous vending machines. It is not the only tool they have found to encourage this type of pure leisure travel. There are musical highways where the asphalt emits a melody as the car or motorcycle passes by, using the roughness to create scores that the traveler plays as they pass over it. Or the michi no eki, something like the latest evolution of the service area where the gas station has the obligation to have another business or to offer a local product. There are those that only sell local food but there are those that even have their own natural science museum. A perfect opportunity to collect your stamps or banknotes, other tourist attractions of these spaces. And Japan is an obsessed country for collecting and making everyone as comfortable as possible. And for that jidouhanbaiki They are perfect. Photos | Xataka In Xataka | Japan is searching for the person who built a road on the country’s largest lake. It leads nowhere

While we were looking at gasoline, the Iran crisis has skyrocketed the price of asphalt. And the roads of half the world are already suffering from it

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A few months ago we published in Xataka an article with the following title: Spanish roads have a problem in 2026: repairing a kilometer of asphalt is more expensive than ever. It was February 26, 2026. In it we analyzed the problem that Spain had encountered. Our roads, prepared for a hot and dry climate (especially in the southern half) had suffered very intense days of almost constant rain. It didn’t take long for the holes to appear and neither did the complaints in the media and social networks about the supposed poor condition of the roads. Trying to understand if this is really the case or not and why it is estimated that the State needs to invest some of 13,000 million euros to fix themwe looked to see if it had become more expensive the price of asphalt in recent years. Something that, indeed, was reflected in the aforementioned article. But this, as we said, was published on February 26. Two days later, on February 28, we woke up to the news that the Government of the United States and Israel had launched a joint bombing offensive against Iran. The rest, we already know. Crisis in oil supplya battle for open and close the Hormuz canal and fuel increases for passenger cars and airplanes. But there is something that has also risen. And that something is called asphalt. More expensive than ever (now yes) And in less than three months, which seem to have lasted a lifetime, the headline has become outdated. At the end of last month, Asefma (Spanish Association of Asphalt Mixture Manufacturers) already warned that the price of asphalt was skyrocketing. According to this association, in March alone the average price of asphalt had risen 8.2%. Nothing compared to April, when it did so by 49.3%. He overrun of the final product is due, above all, to the increase in the price of bitumen that acts as a binder for asphalt and is where the increase in the price of oil has the most impact. Asefma has come to consider that the increase in the price of asphalt was putting at risk the viability of the signed contracts or even whether they will be fulfilled or completed if the works have already begun. The truth is that, beyond the possible pressure measures of the employers’ association that defends the interests of its associates, the price of asphalt has skyrocketed inside and outside our country. To understand why asphalt has become more expensive you have to understand what makes it up. The pavement of our roads is made up of dirt and stones that are compacted. They serve as a base but also cushion the weight placed on them to delay the breaking of the asphalt. This asphalt is a bituminous mixture that uses bitumen of different intensity depending on where the road is going to be built. Those that resist heat better tend to be less flexible and those that drain better tend to be more flexible. Therefore, the latter They can melt when temperatures are very high. All components have been affected by the increase in the price of oil. To begin with, the earth and stones have to be transported by heavy vehicles with very high diesel consumption, precisely the fuel that has become most expensive. The same thing happens with the refinement of bitumen or asphalt (what we ultimately step on). If energy costs rise, the price of this product rises. But, in addition, the price of bitumen is closely linked to the price of oil. This product is made from the densest oil in the barrel, the least usable in energy terms and the most expensive to convert into fuel. This product is what is refined to obtain bitumen and, with bombs falling on Iran and the subsequent response on neighboring countries, the production and export of raw materials It has been very diminished, obviously. The American company Victory Paving figure in an increase of between 2 and 3% in the price of asphalt for every 10 dollars that a barrel of oil rises. They also argue that the shortage is greater because the rise in energy costs has an impact on a drop in the production of refineries and these usually prioritize the production of diesel and gasoline over asphalt refining because the fuels are more profitable. Richard Hudock, president of Derry Construction Co., pointed out to the American media who had never suffered a crisis so serious in the 42 years that they had been working, ensuring that the impact of the price of oil on the raw materials and fuel to be able to operate their vehicles put their job at risk this summer. In Argus They point out that the situation in Africa is no better. They point out that the bitumen that reaches countries like South Africa has become almost exclusively dependent on trade with Greece and Türkiye, once the Middle East tap has been closed. This has caused the price of each freighter to triple. If the price of asphalt has grown in the United States, South Africa and Spain, doubts have also grown about what to do in these cases. In the first of these countries It has been proposed to delay the patching of certain streets or highways. But this can cause the problem to worsen and, even if the price of oil falls again in the future, the damage will be deeper and the investment to be made would have to be larger. And the problem is that in the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain we face the same problem. The winters In all of these countries it has been very cold or very rainy, so the condition of the asphalt has been compromised. In BBC They report that the United Kingdom had already increased the budget to repair its roads but that the increase in the price of oil has put this item in check. The result, as … Read more

Australia has a problem: extremely boring and monotonous roads. And it also has a solution: sign trivia

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If you drive on Australian roads you may come across unusual signs and we are not talking about the kangaroos warning (that also), but the one that warns you that you are about to cross the “90 Mile Straight“, a stretch of almost 150 kilometers in a straight line that means spending just under two hours without turning the steering wheel. Or a sign that directly throws you a random question typical of Trivial. The objective is that your brain does not disconnect because on such a monotonous route, boredom can be lethal. In fact, Australia has some of the most dangerous roads in the world and it is not because of their poor condition or their dizzying curves, quite the opposite: they are too long, too straight and too empty. So the country is exploring different solutions to avoid this potentially deadly drowsiness. Boring Australian roads. All of these roads have decent pavement, a predictable layout, a landscape with little variation and little traffic, a recipe for disaster: The Eyre Highway takes the cake: it connects Western Australia with South Australia across the plain Nullarbor Plain (which takes its name from the Latin: treeless) between Balladonia and Caiguna: 200,000 square kilometers of limestone land with hardly any vegetation or hills. A 146.6 km straight line without a single curve that you have to travel at 110 km/h (the legal limit in most of the country). After the Saudi Arabia Highway 10is the second longest straight road in the world. The Stuart Highway It crosses the center of the continent from north to south, from Darwin to Port Augusta, traveling more than 2,700 kilometers inland on a fairly simple route that also crosses the Northern Territory. There it has large stretches through northern areas with distances up to 252 kilometers Between gas stations, temperatures of up to 45 °C are reached and a landscape monotony that has little to envy of the Nullarbor. In fact, one of the roads with the highest rate of fatigue accidents in the country, according to the Australian government. The Barkly Highway It connects Queensland to the Northern Territory via the Barkly Tableland, a flat, arid plateau where the road stretches almost straight for hundreds of kilometres. The extreme heat, the total absence of shade and the sections without signage or rest areas make it a minefield for those who travel through it. The Flinders Highway Also in Queensland it runs through the interior of the state for more than 800 kilometers. It connects Townsville with the interior through a repetitive landscape, with little traffic and long distances between towns, the ideal breeding ground for boredom. At night it is even worse. The danger of road hypnosis. The highway hypnosis or white line fever is more than just being bored and drowsy: it is an altered mental state that allows you to continue driving, responding to basic stimuli and maintaining speed, but without being aware of what you are doing. Simply put: put your brain on automatic mode. science has an explanation: Flat, straight roads with little landscape variation produce a chronic deficiency of sensory stimulation, reducing alertness to dangerously low levels, causing drowsiness and inattention. This study on the phenomenon explains that cognitive fatigue reaches its peak just 20 minutes after entering that monotonous environment, much sooner than it might seem, even for those who are driving. When the brain warns, it has already been on autopilot for a while. The consequences can be tragic: unconscious speed increases or a minimal reaction capacity that already causes havoc. In Australia, fatigue while driving is four times more likely as a cause of this road hypnosis than drugs or alcohol. In Queensland, it accounts for 20 to 30% of road deaths. A15, Queensland. Via Google Maps Trivia on signs. The solution that Australian authorities have been implementing for years is so simple that it is shocking: posters with a question and answer game. As you enter one of those boringly dangerous areas, you come across a yellow sign that warns: “Fatigue Zone. Trivia Games Help You Stay Alert” (Fatigue zone. Trivia games to help you stay alert). From that moment on, you will find signs scattered along the route several kilometers away with a question and his corresponding response. Example: Question: Who was the first Premier of Queensland? Answer: Robert Herbert. And so on. The cognitive mechanism is exactly what science describes: introducing an unexpected and irrelevant stimulus for driving that forces the brain to come off autopilot. So the driver has to read, process the question, remember and, if there is a co-driver, even debate the answer. And then wait to see the solution a little later. A simple but effective way to activate the mind. Each question and answer is glued to the panel and secured with a padlock, allowing them to be renewed. And does it work? Well, probably yes, but no one has rigorously measured it. However, in theory the mechanism is supported by neuroscience. Professor Narelle Haworth, Director of the Center for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland, endorses his presence: “Always doing the same thing, without much stimulation, causes a decrease in alertness (…) The idea of ​​trivia games on the road is to keep drivers more attentive… perhaps a passenger who knows the answer will start a conversation.” But Haworth herself acknowledges that although the objective is in line with road safety research, there is no study that has specifically analyzed the impact of the signs. In addition, it has its limitations: the signs lose effectiveness with those who travel the same route frequently and already know all the questions. And obviously they have a quite common risk in these times: Someone might think to look at their cell phone to look for the answer. And in any case, it does not replace rest. Triple animal sign. Bahnfrend, Wikimedia Trivia by dropper. This measure started in 2012 by the Queensland Transport Administration with the aim of “helping drivers … Read more

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