Modern roads are better than Roman roads, this is why!

Thanks to Prosperous Universe for sponsoring, check it out here:
prosperousuniverse.com/?...
Having designed and supervised construction of real highways over the last decade, when I saw Road Maintenance Simulator was a thing I knew I had to play it. Little did I know how much I have missed my day job as a road engineer!! This is part 3 where we repave a road!
LINKS!
PATREON: / realcivilengineer
MERCH: realcivilengineer.com
MEMBERSHIP: / @realcivilengineergaming
REDDIT: / realcivilengineer
TWITCH: / realcivilengineer
PADDY (MY DOG): / @paddytheapprentice
STREAM ARCHIVE: / @realcivilengineerarchive
PLAYLISTS!
MINI MOTORWAYS: • Mini Motorways
INFRA: • INFRA!
DORFROMANTIK: • Dorfromantik
CITIES SKYLINES - ENGITOPIA: • Cities Skylines - Engi...
KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM: • KSP
POLY BRIDGE 2: • Poly Bridge 2
HYDRONEER: • Hydroneer
VARIETY PLAYLIST: • VARIETY PLAYLIST
Epic Game Store Support-A-Creator Code: RCE
(In connection with Epic Games’ Support-A-Creator Program, I may receive a commission from certain in-game purchases)
About Road Maintenance Simulator:
Experience the everyday life in a German street maintenance service and complete a variety of realistic tasks in the area of road construction and maintenance! For your work you will have unique vehicles and various usable tools at your disposal.
Numerous tasks await you! In Street maintenance service, 30 extensive missions await you in a freely navigable road network. Complete a variety of exciting tasks in your daily work, including placing road markings, removing safety barriers, trimming trees, cleaning roadsides, installing traffic signs, crash barriers and delineators, and, of course, repairing roads.
Choose from a variety of vehicles! Drive in unique vehicles such as platform trucks and all-purpose vehicles in a freely drivable road network with highway, main and country road from your work yard to the site and complete your missions with combination roller and tar machine or even on foot!
For your work you have various usable tools and objects at your disposal. Among them are motor vibrators, garbage gripper, cordless screwdrivers, signs, delineators and crash barriers.
30 extensive missions on the highway and main roads
Freely drivable road network with freeway, main and country roads
Walkable depot with fleet of vehicles and material warehouse
More than 8 different road maintenance vehicles, such as bulldozer, all-purpose vehicle, road marking vehicle and dump truck
Realistic tasks such as securing the work area, removing safety barriers, placing road markings, trimming trees, cleaning guard rails, cleaning roadsides, repairing roads, placing traffic signs, placing guard rails, placing delineators and much more
Several objects for securing and completing the missions (from barks to guardrail to vibration dampers)
Openworld map with interconnected road network
Realistic graphics (Unreal Engine)
store.steampowered.com/app/14...
#realcivilengineer #engineering #roadmaintenancesimulator

[@ashamar]

Nothing better than listening to smart people talk about their chosen profession. Seriously, this is probably my favorite game on the channel right now simply because Matt geeks out on road works. And that is a wonderful thing.

[@sandropenner5351]

Very true, I love this series and would love to see other simulation games played as well

[@ReneSchickbauer]

I also love how he calmly explains safety barriers while causing a huge traffic jam.

[@krabby8216]

I learn more here at home watching RCE then at school lol 😆

[@dirk2695]

Couldn't agree more.

[@ehojon]

The funniest thing is he sure is smart but dont know left or right every start of the job haha

[@zippity010]

19:02 the Dog brand is a play on the company “Caterpillar,” stylized as “CAT” in their logos, one of the largest construction equipment companies.

[@tomrgaming5984]

Yea annoyed he didn't get that one :P

[@user-tf5pj6fl8w]

really surprised Matt didn't catch that one

[@Schedelke]

He even mentions Catterpillar machines in the video and doesnt realise they all say CAT on the side.. And this man has an engineering degree!

[@schwig44]

@@Schedelke that's what the inspectors are for ;)

[@cassandradawn780]

dogerpillar

[@guffyscotland9605]

There's something so enthralling about someone as knowledgeable in the subject as Motorway Matt is, playing a game explaining, in detail, about where his expertise lie. That's why I like Infra so much too! It's great how accurate a simulation that one is, mushroom guy is definitely a mood.

[@Syllaren]

His unique understanding of real world equivalents did make his playthroughs more entertaining. Which is why I'm kinda wishing one of the people at NASA or spaceX had the time to start streaming Kerbal playthroughs lol. From what I understand the game has some confirmed NASA techs in it's reddit forum that enjoy it a lot

[@kaw57_]

@@hadeishadeis7462 no you didn't, that just didn't happen

[@deadlydoener]

Heres another fun little fact about sign safety: Over here in germany you almost never see funny shaped signpoles, they are all tubes that are designed to fold in on themselves. In addition to that the concrete foundation of the sign is also designed in a way that if a car hits the sign the foundation will just pop out of the ground and allow the sign to fall over which is why in Germany you can sometimes see signs that are not standing straight but instead in a 45 degree angle because some people find it funny to push them over and rip out the foundation.

[@krabby8216]

Where I live (in canada) the signposts and guardrail posts are made of wood but the gantry signposts are made of metal truss made of metal poles welded together and the road never gets resurfaced but they grind up a patch where there is damage and fill it in with asphalt u rarely see a road get resurfaced and we call this grind and patch

[@thomasdickson3622]

The US freeways and highways usually have 4x4 treated wooden posts, but if you look at the base you’ll see a two inch or so hole drilled through it perpendicular to traffic flow. This weakens the post enough that it will break there if it is hit.

[@Sara-L]

@@thomasdickson3622 The signs I see in New England have no such holes.

[@SuperHunteeYoutube]

fun

[@SuperHunteeYoutube]

fun

[@funkejosh4850]

Hey Matt since this game has you driving around on german roads and you dont seem to know some of these signs let me help you a bit: The Black/White Markers on the side of the road are Meter Markers. You have them all over roads when you are outside of a city or on the Autobahn. These Posts are there to sort of guide you on the road when you have reduced visibility because of fog/rain/snow/etc. They have white reflective strips on them to better see them at night. They also indicate a road crossing your way with orange reflectors. Mostly seen in woods where streets usually are just dirt paths going onto the main road. They can also indicate a path where forest animals cross the road with blue/red reflectors (but there is usually a sign with a deer telling you that like the one at 9:30 ) 8:16 min This sign indicates a main road where you have the right of way. Crossing streets have a corresponding yield sign. 8:33 min This sign removes all traffic restrictions and speed limits. On german roads outside of towns you are allowed to go up to 100km/h if no speed limit is in place. If this sign has a car or truck in the middle (like the one at 9:10 but this STARTS the restriction) this also removes the overtake restrictions. Usually if the sign is crossed out or mostly white it removes the sign that started it. 10:49 min This sign indicates a motorway or as we call it the Autobahn. 11:14 min This sign removes the overtaking restrictions for vehicles heavier than 3,5t Useful because some truck drivers may switch lanes to overtake other trucks because they are going .1 km/h too slow and now they start a race up the hill where the one truck is driving 80km/h and the other one is 79km/h.

[@jaronics]

The sign at 10:50 doesn't indicate an Autobahn. It marks the beginning of a ,,Kraftfahrstraße." A Kraftfahrstrasse (German for "motor-power road", also colloquially called Schnellstraße, literally "fast road") in Germany is any road with access limited to motor vehicles with a maximum design speed of more than 60 km/h (37 mph), excluding pedestrian, bicycle, moped or tractor traffic. Oversized vehicles are banned. The construction of transregional Kraftfahrstraßen highways (Autostraßen) rank below the standard of German autobahns. With regard to the general German speed limits, on roads with lanes separated by a median or with a minimum of two marked lanes per direction, an advisory speed limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit) of 130 km/h (81 mph) applies. At-grade intersections are admissible, regulation at junctions is usually provided by traffic lights or roundabouts. U-turns and any deliberate stopping are prohibited. Kraftfahrstraßen are out of bounds to pedestrians, except for special crosswalks. (wikipedia)

[@tezzanoia]

Addition on the black and white markers: the reflectors on each side look different, to help tell in what side of the road they are. They're always set up so when you drive down the road you see a rectangular reflector on your side and two circular ones above each other on the other side

[@wackyweyland8857]

Very cool, thanks FunkeJosh

[@darrenbudgen966]

nerd

[@Jaiyak]

Similar in Australia we have meter markers white on the right red on the left to show what side your ment to be on, we have that 100km rule outside cities and I think we have the no limit signs in the outback im not sure though

[@rockytopproductionsandgami7745]

The rollers we use in America has two drums instead of one drum and one axle. The roller in game is used to compact dirt.

[@Marco-re1db]

Not only in the USA, In Germany, we actually use those too. The Problem with those wheels from the one ingame would be they would damage and/or get damaged by the hot asphalt. They are indeed only used to compact dirt or some stone roads. Greetings from a german Road Construction Manager :D

[@tekbox7909]

@@Marco-re1db Great then please do tell why the hell theres a road your colleagues still havent finished repairing in 2 or 3 years?

[@Marco-re1db]

@@tekbox7909 Difficult. In Germany, most of the Roads are owned by the State. But they dont have the money to repair it. Its realy expensive

[@tekbox7909]

@@Marco-re1db Yeah but why the hell start cobstruction and never finish it. especially on a much used road without alternatives

[@Marco-re1db]

@@tekbox7909 it is being finished, got an example of what you mean?

[@KeiwaM]

That CGP Grey reference made me happy. Hexagons are the Bestagons.

[@hidingthisaxcount]

It made me so happy lmao

[@-R-E-D-]

HEXAGONS ARE THE BESTAGONS

[@johannes7856]

Well, in Germany, street signs are mostly stolen by drunks instead of someone stealing them to scrap them. Most of the time (in our area) you can find them lying around somewhere 1-2 kilometres away. Also you can find 180deg turned signs.

[@tekbox7909]

Yeah or like me and my brother you find them in the shed for some reason. I think the shed wasn't used since the house was built and when we decided to take it down we went through the things inside and found some street signs

[@XNawiXx]

theyre invalid if theyre turned 180° though

[@tezzanoia]

Once the Jugendclub ("youth club", honestly an ironic name considering none of them is under the age of 18) of my home town took down the sign at the entrance of it, just to take it to a festival with them. They put it up like 3m high on a pole above their camp for that weekend and then returned it afterwards lmao

[@RobertSzasz]

Don't forget signs of locations with humourous names

[@ajorsomething4935]

Those reflective things are called "retroreflectors" though you may already know that, basically it reflects incoming light parallel to the path along which it came. Most things when hit by light will scatter the light but that little half cube mirror design reflects right back to the source, and since your eyes are relatively close to your car's headlights, the retroreflection works to make the sign look very bright. Technology Connecitons does a good video on these.

[@andreicezarrusu4616]

wanted to mention Technology Connections also, glad to see someone else knows it :).

[@SaftoRangen]

I wish this game had more content - hearing you go into detail about roads and drainage is one of the biggest joys one can have on this channel.

[@thenorwegianviking5721]

You should make a series on how things like that work, would be really interesting

[@wikansaktianto9215]

There are no guard rails cleaner in UK, all of the rails get soaked by the constant rain...

[@CityPlannerPlaysChair]

I told my wife about barrier spacing when we went on the highway the last time. She wasnt impressed. I'm filing for divorce for irreconcilable Engineering opinions.

[@pepperreturns]

You married an architect?!

[@storcale9474]

I did exactly the same!!! And everyone was like “ok, dont care” :(

[@volundrfrey896]

@@pepperreturns We all do stupid things in the quest for love.

[@matthewtalbot-paine7977]

In the UK road closures generally only happen at night. What!!!!! I wish this was true. They closer my road for an entire year once. Other roads I got to work on are closed for days at a time.

[@tekbox7909]

Yeah we have a road that has been closed for I think 2 or 3 years already for repairs and the only way to get around it in a reasonable amount of time is a small road that is in way worse shape cause it has like only half of the top layer remaining

[@RealCivilEngineerGaming]

Motorways I meant 😅

[@matthewtalbot-paine7977]

@@RealCivilEngineerGaming Ah that makes more sense. Was what you said about signs with Trusses was also just about motorways because it was round poles all the way home and then aptly enough the road I park on was closed

[@RealCivilEngineerGaming]

@@matthewtalbot-paine7977 no, all signs on motorways need a barrier as the speeds are so fast. You'll see those on single carriageway with a faster speed, though I think they're a bit less common these days, now it's just round posts that act the same way but don't look that visually different from a normal post

[@matthewtalbot-paine7977]

@@RealCivilEngineerGaming I feel like I'm learning too much about roadways. Defintely looking for the ramps which shouldn't exist though next time I go to a motorway. I'm a software engineer so I'm not used to real engineering.

[@ReneSchickbauer]

Cleaning the guard rails isn't only to make them shiny and nice, it's to clean the reflectors mounted on it. The same or a similar rig is also used to regularly wash the walls of some tunnels. this saves quite a bit of electricity and maintenance cost in the long run, because the clean walls reflect more light, so you need less lamps installed.

[@davidhaas3455]

19:04 he doesn’t get the cat/dog joke lmao

[@Cheesybeanus]

“We just closed the road now we are buggering off” typical British road maintenance

[@KrisHall7997]

If somebody crashed into that it probably final destination themself in the face -Matt 2022 I could not stop laughing that was hilarious! I'm loving this game Matt's dropping knowledge & it's info I didn't already know, cheers Matt for the education lessons! Matt Steamrollers are called steam rollers because they were originally powered by steam engines

[@Jourdainist]

Thank you Matt for actually teaching us something as well. Now whenever i go out i spot all the things you talk about. I saw a concrete flower pot in the parking lot today and it had steel rebar poking through, I got worried and tried to move away quickly before it collapsed

[@blackmendosa]

I never knew much about civil engineering until two things, playing citites skylines and reading about traffic engineering and such and finding RCE. Always find it interesting hearing about your old job and the reasoning behind stuff. Entertaining and informative. :D

[@r0bz0rly]

I know it's been said many times in the comments already, but I just wanna jump on the appreciation for Matt's passion for engineering. It's so damn interesting hearing insights into something we take for granted. There are some brilliant minds behind seemingly simple infrastructure

[@frederickbunting1801]

I just love how not only do you play the game and make it funny but you explain all the engineering behind it! Makes it so much more unique.

[@maxpoppe]

actually, modern safety barriers (at least in the US) are designed to break when you hit the end, so it'll curl upwards when you hit it straight on instead of inpaling you. Quite interesting, (there are video's online about that if you're interested)

[@Kwauhn.]

I love hearing "hexagons are the bestagons" from you Matt, a man of culture

[@Fighting_Falc0n]

CPG Grey - Hexagons are the bestagons. Noticed that yea

[@SylviaRustyFae]

15:50 Those railroad ones are called Track Ballast :3 I just watched a cool science vid on them yesterday and learned all about how the rocks are spec chosen to interlock into each other and how they provide a foundation that doesnt move cuz of that; unlike just throwin rocks down.

[@cavalierliberty6838]

The base layer of ballast creates the foundation. Putting little rocks on top of it provides some sound insulation.

[@SylviaRustyFae]

@@cavalierliberty6838 It actually has many more purposes besides just those two as well; the vid i watched mentioned like seven specific benefits of it. Tho i can only recall a third benefit rn; which is that it makes for a smoother ride for any passengers. ETA: doublechecked vid and three of the reasons were related to foundation purposes, the others were to provide easy drainage to keep the tracks dry, prevent vegetation from growin on the tracks, and preventin heat expansion of the tracks; in addition to those stated here

[@SylviaRustyFae]

@@cavalierliberty6838 Also, those rocks above it still have to be spec shaped ones that interlock instd of round or smooth rocks; bcuz otherwise the train passin over them wud cause the smooth/round rocks to roll out of position and thus that top layer wud be less useful.

[@zamboughnuts]

I love how much RCE just geeks out over this game.

[@Serasitas]

In a lot of places in the US our road signs are on U channel sign posts but they're bolted to a short anchor with a sheering apparatus, so if you hit them the whole sign will come off the anchor. I just love listening to Matt talk about this stuff.

[@Kaktussaft_]

10:51 in germany this car sign is called „entering a Kraftstraße“. „Kraftstraße“ or „Schnellstraße“ (how we also call these) are roads on which only vehicles that can drive at least 60 km/h are allowed. The difference with Autobahns is that Kraftstraßen can include normal crossings. Another difference is that on Kraftstraßen, unless otherwise permitted, cars may drive at most 100 km/h outside a town or village area and 50 km/h within a town or village area.

[@thekid9989]

Something that might interest you. We have road grinder that grind and repave the road in one shot. They do this by using the asphalt they are grounding mixed with new binder.

[@bloke8457]

I work in tarmacking and ive never seen one of these, the plainings always get loaded into 8W trucks and taken to a yard somewhere

[@thekid9989]

@@bloke8457 Rotomill out of Orangeville Ontario does Expanded Asphalt witch is the process I am talking about.

[@auntiesandrayt3428]

Engineers rule , architects drool 🤌🏼

[@gensanitygames]

I genuinely love all the actual educating you do in these videos about traffic management, safety barriers, etc. It's legitimately fascinating.

[@dominic.h.3363]

I love it when I'm entertained and educated at the same time! That being said, "accomplished successfully" triggers the hell out of me as a translator by trade (but apparently that wasn't the only mistake they did with wording, as Matt pointed out in an earlier video). Accomplished already implies a positive outcome. I can not unsee the german word "erfolgreich" when I look at it. All in all, there is more to developing a game, especially a simulator type, than just getting the coding bits done, and this is a good example how to screw up.

[@Ger.bogado]

I love when he talks about his former job and spread knowledge to us

[@thejeqff]

Loved this series. Hopefully they add some more things to do in the future, but appreciate you sharing your RCE knowledge with us and showing us the proper way to drive huge maintenance vehicles.

[@nikobs5832]

It was better when he did the timberborners (good old beavles group)

[@circuitsalsa]

This was one of my favorite series from you in a long while. Your usual content is good, it's just that with topics like these your passion and expertise come out too and it's great to share that joy and learning with you. Thanks for inviting us along!

[@NikA-dz2hl]

Learning about all these aspects of highway repair from someone who actually knows what they're talking about while being entertained? I love this series and this creator!

[@nenaroo]

that was like... an amazingly informational and surprisingly fun episode to watch - I learned some stuff!!! definitely one of my absolute favorite gamers to watch.

[@FoodBaby69]

The most informative game series I've ever seen.

[@mrtriforcehero5382]

7:00 I live in Wacken. Here we regularly have road signs stolen as souvenirs. During WOA they even take down every single sign in and around the village that has the name Wacken on it!

[@huntergoodman8639]

7:48 the magic of retroreflection. When light hits a retroreflective material, the pattern reflects the light directly towards the eyes of the driver. Thats why it seems like they glow super bright.

[@coreyh3170]

In the US you will see a formed channel or a breakaway pole most of the time for road signs.

[@afrofanta]

pretty sure the "dog" brand is just a joke on the real brand cat since the logo looks nearly identical

[@MrColdHollow]

I genuinely love that I can come to your channel and enjoy the video and also learn stuff at the same time. Knew nothing about the terminals.

[@AlexZSteinlauf]

These videos where you talk about the real life counterparts are my favorite.

[@Bai_legend]

Totally accurate engineer👌🏻

[@willford0493]

hexagons are the bestagons hahahahahahahahahahaha

[@mechanick]

I absolutely love learning about your job as a civil engineer. I'm working on becoming an engineer myself (mechanical, though), and the explanations you give for everything are both super interesting and make total sense 😄

[@captaindelta43]

Road Maintainance Simulator Developers:- may it be a peaceful sim , to make people understand somewhat how road thingy works . Matt, RCE:- SO IF YOUR CAR IS GONNA CRASH..........

[@joshrenmydublin9261]

Engineers > Architects

[@matthewtalbot-paine7977]

I think I know what is happening here after you've shut the road with no diversions you are pissing off home. I've seen this before.

[@better.better]

or maybe the pub... not maybe ...more likely

[@keyrousse]

I love how educational this series is. Great job sharing your knowledge!

[@Drag0nmaster]

My road was resurfaced like last year, it was cool seeing those machines just scrape the road off of the ground anch chuck it into the trailer behind it, the seeing the machine that dumps out the tar, next there was a big steamroller, then behind that there was two mini steam rollers clearing the wheel marks of the big roller. Cool stuff.

[@tobimai4843]

On the highway next to where I live they resurfaced it with a giant tar placing machine, it was as wide as 2 highway lanes, so about 6m

[@_deeptanil]

U keep ranting like I'm taking a rce course... You should make a course and totally sell it 😂

[@velvetpriv]

*Challenge for Matt:* In the next episode follow trafic rules, including no crashing nor speeding. Bet ya he couldn't make it.

[@ishpulc]

Enjoyed this series and hearing you explain different principles and things from your knowledge in the field. Hopefully they will continue to update and add new missions so you can share more knowledge.

[@better.better]

here in the United States guardrails don't usually terminate at a point either but instead do have a crushable barrier. there are places where it terminates but has a sort of squared off end cap. usually this is on a divided highway, where they have a break for emergency vehicles to pass through to the other side. I have seen road signs on teenagers bedroom walls before. going to go out on a limb and guess that they **didn't** buy them someplace. most of the road closures on busy roads are done at night when there's less traffic (and even more importantly in the summer: when it's not as hot) this is especially true for road work that's going to take months and months such as resurfacing a bridge which they try to do half at a time. usually they build the new bridge before they tear down the old bridge) even if they have a lane closed they still do the work at night

[@fakeaccount6694]

"Stupid european countries"...well...a LOT more countries drive on the right side of the road. In fact, nearly all of them.

[@EEEEEEEE]

‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎E‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

[@tommsey_ttv]

Far from "nearly all". About 40% of countries and 1/3 of the world population drive on the left.

[@AsphaltSniffer]

Love these vids, so fun to see civil engineering (roads specifically) get the attention it deserves. It really is an amazing workfield! And this game imo is a great way to get more people interested in the workfield! Great video and keep up the great work, Greetings from a dutch roadway engineer (to be)

[@microsnot1900]

You've got a way of reaching into your inner nerd and educate the masses in engineering, and in the same time playing the game in an entertaining way. This is some top level stuff Matt. I'm 42, programmer, and now I know more about road management. :-)

[@Down01986]

Stop signs mean make way in Great Britain. xD You learn something new every day.

[@tgreythorne45]

I'm suddenly able to understand the various points of my travel better now, thanks to you!

[@timbomb374]

This is an excellent series. Learning so many things about roads and road safety I never even thought about. Whilst also being engaging and fun and not just a kind of information dump thing. I don't know how exactly to define it but if everything could be taught in this kind of way learning would be a more popular pastime.

[@LegoDork]

My buddies and I used to knock the signs over with "The Battle Wagon", Haul the thing post and all into the back the back of the '85 Chevy Custom Cruiser, unbolt the sign proper as we drove along, and ditch the pole out the back while moving. We just wanted the signs, no scrapping involved.

[@mrpadi64]

In Germany (in our District (Kreis)) the road planners decided to use concret for roundabouts, which make a lot of sense to prevent deforming by driving only in one direction.

[@justthatguy9946]

I use a subset of flexible pavements fairly frequently called sprayseal/chipseal. Most of my sites are >12h drive from the nearest asphalt plant, and therefore it is far more economical to heat the bitumen only and then spread aggregates on top. Not quite as durable however it is super cheap and easy to reseal, as no planing/profiling is required.

[@hobbychameleon1024]

Where I’m located they use square posts full of holes. People used to take the solid posts to build things out of, like exhaust pipes

[@wintersking4290]

My grandpa used to own and run a concrete company here in America. Knew a lot of his road construction facts already. I got to ride on the curb making machine as a kid, that was pretty fun.

[@gige1194]

Imagine being one of the people in the cars waiting for the road resurfacing, and just watching this construction worker walk back and forth talking to himself and pointing at things.

[@SoFarSoGoodSoWhat14]

I'm so impressed by these tiny details that average people don't notice but they make everyone safer, super clever stuff

[@karelpgbr]

This is such a good series, just the small insights into your job, amazing!

[@FullOfBradells]

Labourer/operator/traffic control coordinator perspective time Matt. Canadian here so some things are just term differences. The signs, they're not reflective, they're retroreflective. This design angles the light a few degrees upward so that you see the sign illuminating instead of the light reuturning to your headlights. Also signs here are made up of 2-4 parts, they're hard circular tubes with many holes to attach to the sign/extension. We call this "forgiving design". Planeing we call milling here, it's not a giant blade here, it's a giant wheel of doom essentially, it removes the asphalt and throws it into nearby trucks to be recycled into more asphalt. The machine you backed up to we call a spreader, some are on gps and the operators are within mm's and working with points of an angle for drainage while making multiple passes for the sake of ease of future repairs. It also pushes the truck in neutral as to not disturb the subbase. That specific type of packer would never be used on asphalt because of the tires they'd leave big grooves. Steam rollers have 2 steam rollers on them to cure the surface and not leave tire marks. Underneath the asphalt is the base, which here is 3/4" limestone watered, compacted (causes chemical reactions which can make it nearly as hard as concrete, had a grader do a burntout on some one and didn't leave a mark other than rubber from it's tires spinning) and tested for density. Underneath that is typically larger rock 2-6" (50-150mm) which are used for drainage to let the water run to catch basins/edges of the road which have french drains in most of them (tube with a bunch of holes drilled into the top edges to collect water and run it along (subset so that only the holes are exposed but also wrapped in river rock and geotextiles)). Underneath that is the subbase which is typically either the large 6" rock on top of geotextile and compacted earth, or some combination of all 3, sometimes it's tested, sometimes it isn't. It's nearly impossible to run the density machine on large rock because of the odds of ending up trying to go inside of a rock, or shifting things to ruin the true compaction. Anyway Matt thanks for showing us the engineers pespective, I always speak with them when given the opportunity on site, and it's nice to share an operator/labourer perspective. (thousands of hours in packers, thousands flagging/traffic control coordinating, hundreds in loaders)

[@adamself2463]

Signs in the U.S. are bolted down with 3 bolts that are intended to shear off disconnecting the sign pole and a low base. Also the corner cushions, which are sometimes barrels are filled with water to stiffen the impact.

[@alexanderpreuss0701]

I really enjoyed this series so far, I like learning stuff while watching your videos :D

[@Nick-hi9gx]

So interesting bit, in Germany (like in Denmark, they have an agreement) all street signs are actually made of LEGOs, that is why they just stick right into the ground like that, they go in a little shaft-hole with a 10x10 thin/flat on the bottom.

[@sterlingodeaghaidh5086]

I remmember cleaning rub rails a lot when I worked at a gas station, you don't think it matters much but the dirt that collects holds moisture to the surface and can accelerate corrosion.

[@Brravv]

I Love how Matt is explaining as much as he can even though he dosnt know that much about German signs

[@quiksilvermanblue]

I use to drive Dump trucks. We call our planer machines mills. Its rather tricky keeping the box in the correct area to receive the road surface IE millings. The millings are apparently recycled into new asphalt afaik.

[@sanderdas9401]

7:48 Those reflectors aren't just regulary mirror, they're made in such a way that light is reflected in the same way it came from

[@emptysora_]

One time, the city I lived in resurfaced the road my, then, house was on while I was home sick. So, I was able to see them do the whole process. To date, it’s still one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. So, hearing your expertise on this was seriously awesome-to learn exactly what they were doing and why. I was also kinda sad the game didn’t have you tear the road up like you mentioned. Actually seeing that happen IRL is awesome. There really was just something… satisfying about seeing the resurfaced road once done. The road isn’t sun-bleached at all and the lines and other things are completely crisp. Two things I’ve gained from you: an appreciation for engineers and road workers, and getting over my fear of bridges that use tension. It really is a thankless but critical job. I actually live close to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida, and the thing used to terrify me. But, now that I know the physics better, I don’t mind going on it-and can admire the engineering feats that went in to designing it. I went from being terrified of such bridges to almost looking forward to going over them when I have to.

[@Ezra411st]

In the part of the US I'm in the guard rails have a deflector thing on the front and back of them so if you were to crash in to the front of the rail it should go off to the side, from what if seen when they are hit in that way

[@1901link]

I really love this series! More informative than I had expected lol

[@lordkell1986]

And best about the "asphalt concrete" as it's called, completely recyclable! If it gets a pot hole, the surface can just be dug up and reused because it's just stiff until sufficient heat is supplied.

[@goschty9042]

Love that GCP Grey refference about the hexagons xD Also yes the game is set in germany :)

[@unknownd7409]

This series was really fun and enjoyable! Can't wait for the next update

[@kierenholden7370]

I’m a civil engineer down the south west 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and I never thought watching my job on a simulator would be so entertaining 😂 nice video 👌

[@derekdrake8706]

It really is enthralling to listen to someone geek out about something they're knowledgeable about, especially when it's over something you encounter every day but don't really think about. I mean, I've learned a lot. I live around a lot of canyon road and like ten years ago there wasn't any safety barrier around this one particular corner of the highway and cars kept flying off the canyon in winter because the roads were icy, you know?Everyone was so happy when they finally put one up and the following winter someone crashed into it and it saved their lives. It's always scuffed and it needs replacing like every other year but it's doing the job. These days the canyon has actually eroded so close to the road that there's this one spot where they're building a kind of bridge, I think? Under the road? It's going to take three years to finish lol

[@doobs46]

My favorite videos are when you talk about your engineering knowledge and experience.

[@chrisgames5201]

So with placing new asphalt, you also have to place some adhesive before you lay the asphalt, and normally you also use steamrollers with rollers both in the front and back, and at the end, it has to naturally cool down, without anything driving on top of it for 30-60 min (depending on the temperature in the air) before you open the road again

[@nateanator00]

So here in Canada when I put in a sign pole it’s the truss style. However instead of putting concrete for a foundation we just shove the sign pole 4-5 feet into the ground.

[@Dragongaga]

That specific sign at 10:50 designates "Autostraße" as opposed to "Autobahn" (highway/motorway), which is a special kind of road that has the same speed limit as a country road, but only allows motor vehicles, like on a highway or motorway. Corrections on a postcard.

[@gamepants4535]

I always come away from RCE's videos feeling like I learned something ^^ It's a nice serotonin

[@ItsTiazzz]

im learning a LOT from this series. Thanks😁

[@theodoric4270]

I'm glad there is something in this game about stealing street signs. I once lived near a place where there was a mile marker that read, "mile 419.9." This bizarre marker was an attempt to avoid the sign being stolen quite as often. I guess there is a high demand for mile marker 420 for some reason...

[@NFSHeld]

Wow it was really interesting to hear how road designers have considered different approaches and went with the one that can be easily replaced every 10 years. But I think someone should've told the communities, because they are apparently still thinking those roads last for 1000 years, judging by the amount of maintenance that is performed.

[@BahamutEx]

I love how passionate you are about your job. :) Also thanks for all the reallife comparisons and explanations.

[@mylittlemusical6168]

In Canada on the highways the post on the signs are wood and on other slower streets the posts are metal

[@sminb.3144]

10:53 that sign is called "Kraftfahrstraße" in Germany. After that sign only vehicles than can legally drive faster than 60 km/h are allowed after that sign. The speed limit is 100 km/h (as long no other sign says otherwise).

[@koppanyhorvath1875]

in Hungary, its not only topspeed, but a moped(or anything that can be drived with an "AM" category license) is not allowed either (even tough a lot of mopeds can drive higer than 60km/h)

[@anthonydownes2286]

Not sure if you mentioned it but usually a bitumen tanker sprays the planed surface before the Tipper backs onto the paver. Usually a road sweeper present as well. For when the job is done. Nice Vid as usual though.

[@myjrbs]

It's so funny because I can't stop looking at the central reservation now to see the poles get closer and further away haha like the concrete barriers they're making now for the smart motorways are like the close poles one, it's so interesting! But also very dangerous as I'm the driver and I'm staring at a barrier haha

[@kaldo_kaldo]

Matthew Punningham, how did you not catch that DOG was a pun on CAT?