Concrete or Asphalt/Tarmac

[humanleague 2]

I quite like gravel.  It makes a wonderful sound when you do a three point turn on it!

[Goldfish4209 9]

Personally I prefer asphalt. Sounds nice and I would go mad if all roads sounded like bridges and highways.

[nealos101 20]

It all depends on the weather in the local area IMO, for instance, here in Britian we have an unpredictable weather cycle, it could be boiling hot one summer and totally freezing the next, or just breezy another summer and pathetically drizally in winter.

We use apsalt mainly - becuase it costs less and simply easy to replace.  We use those big blocks of concrete on our roads it will cost us alot more, and if the weather is harsh - bad maintenance cost.

[UrbanSprawl 5]

I don't care. As long as its well maintained. The concrete highways in Georgia are pretty smooth and quiet.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

I prefer asphalt. Have you ever travelled on concrete at 110 kph? It makes that noise, but asphalt doesn't. It makes the same noise, but it sounds like you have your windows up and you're travelling on concrete.

I think that's because of the density of concrete vs asphalt. Asphalt is softer and has a lower density - but concrete has a higher density - that's why it's used on bus stops, etc because it can hold more. While it has excellent compressive strength (pushing down on it), on the other hand concrete has poor tensile strength (expanding and stretching - reinforcing it with steel rods helps fix this somewhat) - which makes it ideal for bridges and overpasses, vs. asphalt.

Some roads here actually have a concrete base, with asphalt poured over it - mostly on freeways, though.

It usually goes: Sand, Gravel, Concrete [reinforced], asphalt.

Asphalt freeways are a delight to travel on, but after around 10 years or so, you get those little expansion cracks in them, and it's well, bumpy. But we rarely get potholes.

[Constantina 5]

Asphalt does give a good feeling to British Roads, becasue concrete ones are quite rough to run on.

[andymcnab666 4]

Tarmac is the best all rounder... or at least in the UK it is.

[S70 0]

I always feel like asphalt drives smoother, but then it breaks up faster which negates the smooth silence eventually.