[darstar]

Originally Posted by Driller1

Do you have a link on the warranty part??

I do some work for the state and we sign a two year warranty.

We had that same issue here Locally in Marquette , but it was a 20 mile private road, and the contractor was asked to assume a 20 year warrenty...he declined and backed off the contract, at lest in part. I am sure there is more to the story also.

[alleyyooper]

No I don't have a link to the warrenty thing it was several years back and in a truckers magizine.

WoW awhole two year warrenty. Must break yourf heart when the roads last at least 3 years.

How about a 20 year warrenty of even 10 years.

Al

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by alleyyooper

Oh
IWhy do you think the road builders will not give the sate a warrenty on the roads they build?

Al

Becasue the State does not want to pay for such a warranty.


For asphalt a 20 year warranty would have to include the whole cost of rebuilding the road at least once and lots of repairs. The warranty woudl cost more than the construciton of the road. Asphalt does not last that long (11 years in better weatehr conditions with typical traffic).

Concrete might produce a slighly cheaper warranty. However the waranty would have to exclude problems caused by design defects. The contractor generally does nto get to shoose what is done to the subgrade and a mistake by a designer can cause a road to come apart in a few mnths. Then the maintenance of the road woudl also become critical. LIke your house, if a road is not maintined it will decay quickly. Warranty would only be possible on a desgn/build/maintain project. Some states do this, but Michigan will not. (Politics) It is more expensive to do it this way becuase the builder not the state takes responsibility for the risk. Thus, in order to ensure that they stay in business, they must include a huge contingency. If a builder cuts it too close, they will go out of business and not be able to honor the warranty. However if it is protated over several years, it can be a decent deal for the State.

[darstar]

The Roads , regardless of who funds it , are a charge of the State for maintaining them. That alone has a lot to do with their longevity.... When we start privatizing the Highway system, and the care and feeding of them, then things will be different...probely worse !
The toll roads ( Interstates) were not supposed to be federal Highways, but , now they all are. Canada has taken a different approach to the toll road problem and the funding. driving on some of them can be very very expensive. Toronto is the best example I know of.
A pay as you go system has prov en to divert people off these roads, for obvious reasons...but they do last longer , cause there is less traffic.

[JazzyTallGuy]

My question is this how much would a $.03 to $.05 increase mean in terms of increased revenue for road repairs? I think having better roads would be a huge plus to Michigan in terms of attracting businesses and tourism. I moved here in January and it's one of the few things about the state that I don't like. Michigan is a beautiful state, having roads in good condition just enhances the experience of being here for whatever the reason.

[alleyyooper]

The road builders should give a warrenty. You get a warrenty with many of the things you buy. So the coustomer service are great on so suck.

The warrenty comes with the road in Eroupe.

Al

[darstar]

Originally Posted by alleyyooper

The road builders should give a warranty. You get a warranty with many of the things you buy. So the customer service are great on so suck.

The warranty comes with the road in Europe.

Al

the question is for how long. ... I do not know of any road that is maintained free, you find one , let me know.

[JGatti]

Originally Posted by alleyyooper

The road builders should give a warrenty. You get a warrenty with many of the things you buy. So the coustomer service are great on so suck.

The warrenty comes with the road in Eroupe.

Al

That will never happen. They always seem to be in a rush to fix them, beat the deadline and get a bonus. Everyone knows they see the same roads fixed every other year so what kind of warranty could they offer? LOL 8 months?

[nikander23]

I think many posts hit the nail on the head with this one. MI does not need anymore taxes on the citizens. And though we may have more people in our state, that should also mean that we have more money being contributed with all those people buying gas, duh! I think the problem is the miss managing of the money!! Urban sprawl is a problem and though I've heard it costs more to maintain dirt roads, I don't think that's the way to go cause they also take a beating on car too. I agree that taxing garbage trucks from Canada would be a good source of money. I don't want anything to do with toll roads cause they aren't the best either, they slow you down and costs keeping go up even after it's paid for. Maybe more interstate expressways is better if we can get federal funds. One thing not mentioned here, that I'm not completely sure about besides what my mom has said, is that MI has really high truck load capacities. If that's true than that should be lowered below the average to help with costs cause then trucks would have to come in lighter and make more trips which means more gas buying. I aslo agree that government employees should only make the average MI salary and pay part of their health insurance and once your out of office you should have to fend like the rest of us. Though money can come from many areas it should all add up to make better roads of deeper concrete.