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.
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