Why Does Road Construction Take So Long?

Explaining how earthwork works, and why road construction often takes so long.
Like it or not, roads are part of the fabric of society. Travel is a fundamental part of life for nearly everyone. Unfortunately, that means road construction is too. But, I hope I can give you a little more appreciation for what’s going on behind the orange cones.
Watch this video and the entire Practical Engineering catalog ad-free on Nebula: go.nebula.tv/practical-engine...
-Patreon: / practicalengineering
-Website: practical.engineering
Writing/Editing/Production: Grady Hillhouse
Editing and Direction Help: Wesley Crump
This video is sponsored by Brilliant.

[@Yora21]

I've heard several engineers talk about how infamously difficult soil engineering is. And when the soil engineers make a mistake, everything that is build on top is ruined. Always keep the dirt guys happy.

[@DinnerForkTongue]

Half of my mandatory college internship was spent in a soil analysis lab. It is indeed VERY complicated and if you mess up once, you don't get the breathing room of designing or working with materials. Finickiest subject of civil engineering, easily.

[@taekwondotime]

Can you really build a road on top of nothing but packed sand? I thought you had to add rocks and gravel to make a firm base, because the sand will always sink and erode.

[@TheHuffameg]

@@taekwondotime I guess you can in relatively dry climates, without freezing periodes. In Norway where I had a course in roadbuilding there was a lot of focus on using different sizes of rocks for drainage, and nets for stability

[@TheHuffameg]

The rocks also give stability

[@dahaproject3498]

yess, but geotechnical engineering is very confuse. there is a lot of theory, method.

[@albertbatfinder5240]

“Behind the Cones” would be a great title for an entire Practical Engineering sub-series.

[@adoreoner8185]

Good name for a bong smoking podcast too

[@thehandsomenipple3623]

Adore Oner want to start it with me?

[@BobSmith1980.]

'behind the... ' stories are always interesting. With the exception of 'behind the balls, it taint what you think '

[@barbatloosenutproductions2027]

"Behind the cones" series? Sounds like a good idea to me! 😁👍

[@ricardocapriles6243]

“Behind the orange cones”would go better I guess, but yeah it would be a good sub series

[@GabbiBelleS]

"I love construction - always have - and when it happens along my commute, I love it even more because I get to see the slow but steady progress each day." This quote is EXACTLY how I feel. Construction is a huge reason why I went into Civil Engineering.

[@infraprojects3751]

kzbin.info/door/SiaHKyoxSyoc8Rzb2thXJA

[@orchdork775]

@Tbone Hey, well if your parents were soil workers, then maybe they really did walk uphill both ways 😂

[@bnbcraft6666]

I used to do Gas and Electrical conduit utilities for a about a year and a half and I always found it interesting and alway took pride in my work and I remember when we did a large project on a road putting in about a mile of underground Electrical lines and it took about 8 months but I learned a lot about prepping our trench line for pavement with compaction and road base, I now work at a pontoon boat factory as a forklift driver even tho it's not as interesting I work less hours, make more money, and don't physically wear myself out everyday

[@C1000.]

We share same thoughts ❤

[@jonathanbrinker7451]

When I was a kid, there was a state highway being built that my dad and I was drove almost every weekend I was with him. I’ll never forget the excitement of seeing how much progress was made since the last time we saw it.

[@nateweaver9172]

There was a new state road put in our area when I was a kid. It was super exciting to see it being built

[@grubelolo8447]

that sounds fun

[@madmanthan21]

Definitely continue this series, it was great!

[@StickerMedia]

Yeah, please do!

[@youkofoxy]

Sorry, but I have to correct you. It is great.

[@danparden8103]

I love this channel please keep it going

[@bracket0398]

Yes please round 2!

[@IanJohnstonblog]

Yes please!!

[@Mateicats]

Gf: take me somewhere expensive to eat. Me: got ya. Picnic by the side of the road it is.

[@emilianogallwgos9949]

😂

[@nickwallette6201]

Good idea. I usually pick the airport food court.

[@Llortnerof]

Don't you guys have any cinemas?

[@veng3r663]

@@nickwallette6201 I wanna BUILD an airport runway now...

[@mpokoraa]

come on we've seen that joke so many times before...

[@nightmarepurpletrap2589]

Yes as a former excavation construction worker it's very cool to see the machinery up close and twice as fun to drive/operate

[@Czechbound]

That was very interesting. For me, the most important information was that soil can only be compacted at 30cm at a time. Now I understand why the same work seems to be happening for days/ weeks at a time on some parts of highways.

[@josephroach711]

Well thats not true. 1 foot would be a small compaction device. I've passed thousands of compaction tests and we certainly fill more than 1 foot.

[@normferguson2769]

As engineers we specify compaction of 95% so it never settles because it is compacted so tightly with the proper moisture content. In that context the asphalt top should never give way.

[@MrDantheman45]

Soil can be compacted as deep as 2' plus depending on material. A proper size sheepsfoot roller with optimum clay WILL compact 2' !! What happens is engineers and foreman mostly do not know what they are doing ! They are suppose to be leaders, they are mostly ignorant ! Heavy equipment operators can be the same ! Its a very ignorant world we live in now. It didn't use to be that way. Case and point. I was told this same thing, but knew different. I put in two foot plus fill... showed the roller guy how to properly roll. subgrade compaction was 114%, they said it didn't have proper moisture content like the ignorant Norm Ferguson is trying to say. They made us rip it up and add moisture ! It was so hard a Dozer would not touch it, so we got a grader and I scarfired it.. It turned to powder (just like I told them it would)and we added water ! Best compaction then was 85%.. and yes they passed it !The first pass is the most important ! You have to go really slow, if you roll over to fast you will just set the top layer and not compact deep at all and your done. An 84" vibratory roller has 55,000 pounds per square inch force !!! If any smart ass does not believe this, then have them set in one place and hit the vibratory button... it will sink like a rock ! But this is common sense, and the term common sense should not ever apply anymore because its not common, and there is no sense ! I'm a professional Heavy Equipment operator out of Local 103 Indiana 33 plus years. This example is why it takes so long to build a road... its dept of transportation and engineers that do not know what they are doing and doing very stupid things ! Feel free to ask me any questions, or I can give proper demonstrations, and would love it if anyone would like challenge my abilities !!

[@vanbeet5105]

In my country, fill material are deposited in layers of 150mm compacted depth, and the absolute maximum compacted layer thickness cannot exceed 250mm. As for rockfill in swampy areas, the maximum rockfill layer is 400mm.

[@ralphinoful]

Actual reason projects take so long. Contractor: During excavation, an existing water-line not shown on plan is interfering with our work. Please see the attached change order request to remove/re-locate. Owner: Please see note 8,273 on page C-807 that reads, "The contractor is responsible for surveying the area pre-bid." *Goes into 6-months of scope negotiations, finally settle on a new scope of work* Contractor: We propose a change order to our contract of (About 10x what it's actually worth). Owner: Ah, I see. We counter offer with $0, because fuck you. *Re-negotiate the scope of work for another 6 months* Contractor: Okay, we propose 1.5x the value of this work. Owner: Alright, well it's only worth 0.5x the value, so let's just agree in the middle. *Comes to an agreement after a year* 2 Weeks later... Random laborer: Hey boss, what do you want us to do with this *second* water-line?

[@noikristjansson6038]

God this reminds my when I was sawing of broken asphalt around holes to have a clean patch and when the excavator took the asphalt there was this cable just below the ground, it was just luck that I didn't put the saw all the way down earlier otherwise I'd cut the cable. We did some investigating and found out that this cable was the main fibre optic cable from a major internet distributor and there was a good chance that like 12% of Iceland would have suddenly lost their internet connection (I live in iceland, 50% of iceland live in Reykjavík and there are only like 4 internet distributors in iceland) All because the people that put down the cable didn't put a cable PROPERLY down in the ground, yikes!

[@Jaguartmb]

Your insight was humorous!

[@agoatmannameddesire8856]

This guy works on construction projects!

[@pntbll544]

This is exactly how it goes. You took the words right out of my mouth. Even today I’m dealing with change orders on a road project

[@geoffreygriffin3015]

This hit home with me. Lol. Can confirm this is the daily life of civil site work.

[@bvoyelr]

One thing about roads that's always had me curious is how the expected lifespan of a road is calculated and what types of decisions are made to decide how durable a road should be. I imagine the latter is almost exclusively "local and state codes," but a deeper dive into the trade-offs one makes when building an interstate highway versus a residential street seems like an interesting topic to explore.

[@aussieL14M]

I'm a civil engineering designer, Generally speaking the expected lifespan of a road usually boils down to achieving lowest cost taking into account initial costs and maintenance. For instance a rural road could simply be compacted subgrade and asphalt seal, this is cheap, however won't last very long. But as the average annual daily traffic is relatively low this is reasonable. Where the design vehicle is typically larger (say a highway or industrial estate) the pavement thickness will be increased to take the loading. This is more expensive but should last longer. Other factors to consider include expected rainfall in the area or the connecting infrastructure.

[@tubester4567]

I had a similar question, how long does the average road last? They seem to resurface the roads after a few years, even when the road is stable.

[@AlessandroRodriguez]

Is a bit complicated, as anything in engineering, depending of the code used is usually calculated a number of equivalent axis of vehicle traffic from there you can design the multiple layers of materials to resist the forces applied and work with the deformation expected to occur, or you can take some pre-desing, pre-validated solutions.

[@StrokeMahEgo]

And load limits

[@xDrexelx]

@@tubester4567 A typical interstate road is built in many different layers and will last many decades without the need of replacement. Starting with the sub-grade (large stone) as a base for all the asphalt, then many layers of asphalt pavement. Normally you see base asphalt with stone up to 1.5" in two 8" lifts, then some binder layers with smaller stone, and finally the wearing layer with the smallest of stones. These roads (at least in my state of Pennsylvania) could be as thick as 24" of asphalt. The small stones make a nice smooth layer which gives a nice ride quality and low tire noise, but over time large trucks and millions of cars putting their weight on and off of the road causes the stones to wear out and break (hence the name wearing course). When you see a resurfacing job, it is to remove this wearing course and replace it. This is expected to last 7 years or so, but due to climate and increased loading on the roads (increased traffic) this number could drop significantly. Resurfacing normally doesn't take too long to complete though, normally 1-2 months where as a total depth replacement might take 1-2 years.

[@stronkvodka731]

My last visit to Mexico, there were hundreds of workers working on a new piece of road in my grandmas town, no lie in just 4 days, the workers made a new road 4 kilometers long, 2 lanes both ways, whereas over here it took workers 3 weeks to remove around 500 feet of concrete barriers, the ones that look exactly like the ones dividing a freeway, just to reopen up the shoulder that was repaved and had a guard rail addition

[@ATR-42]

they built an entire additional runway in Cancun in like 5 months... took 20 years to build a runway in Chicago...

[@SantaFe19484]

Perhaps Mexicans cut of corners with safety or have less bureaucracy.

[@harryellingsworth8302]

Spend 60 years in the Soil Testing Business, there is so much to building a road, and the testing starts years before the 1st Bulldozer pushes any Soil. Great content on this subject keep it coming.

[@thomaspayne6866]

As a trucker who has driven about 2m miles, I’ve seen that soil density metering device used so many times, and now I can die satisfied finally knowing what it is . 🤗

[@chinmoychoudhury5140]

yep, also called nuclear densometer

[@ChaiKirbs]

Damn, 2 million miles by one guy--really puts into perspective the importance and scale of the work that y'all do!

[@judgejudy7283]

That’s about 20-30 years right?

[@apathyguy8338]

Here in Indiana it's slow because 5 old fat guys always stand around watching the one young guy doing all the work. You've been everywhere I'm assuming. Is this true everywhere or just Indiana? Before any old guys get pissed I'm one also.

[@calebd512]

@@apathyguy8338 any city work is like this lol

[@tibsie]

"I love seeing the slow but steady progress each day." You clearly haven't seen the way roads are built here in the UK. Nothing happens for weeks then you see a massive change overnight followed by more weeks of nothing. Day 1: Road closes. Week 3: Construction equipment actually arrives on site. Week 4: Construction crew arrive on site. Week 6: The first piece of turf, tree, bush or hedge is actually removed. Month 3: Work actually begins on the earthworks. Month 9: Earthworks completed. Month 12: Work starts on the road surface. Month 13: Road reopens. Month 18: Road closes again for line painting. Year 3: Road closes again multiple times for utility companies to lay their utilities one at a time, often having to come back to fix damaged caused by another utility company. Year 5: Two year old potholes caused by the utility companies damaging the road surface are FINALLY... marked with yellow spray paint by the local authorities. Year 10: Some of the marked pot holes repaired, others left for later. New potholes ignored completely. Et cetera, et cetera.

[@twistedsoul]

Oh man, especially councils, "We can't afford to repair the road this year" - the council. "We all got brand new 'company' cars and bonuses" - also the council.

[@kingofbengland]

@@twistedsoul Well they had to get new cars, as the potholes broke the old ones.

[@GregHighPressure]

to be fair our roads are about hugely thicker and stronger..

[@kunjukunjunil1481]

😂 So it's a common wealth problem,I could relate to that

[@phaenius]

Tom, in Romania is the same thing.

[@hgr4255]

Keep it going Grady .... love your narration, your subject matter .... MORE ROAD CONSTRUCTION.

[@ralvis20]

I work in the construction industry, excellent primer video! There's alot of videos you could make on this top. Some additional reasons why it takes a while - weather: this is the biggest factor. when it rains jobs sites become a muddy mess. Then it takes several days to dry after that - permitting can take a while - Right of Way acquisition: this can take years. Sometimes they'll start on a job without all of the property purchased and I'd there is an issue and the construction catches up to the property not purchased, there can be delays - design flaws/redesigns add time As far as soil, spot on about the importance of getting proper compaction. Another thing we do if the soil is "unsuitable" or not good for the roadway base (besides removing it) is various types of stabilization. We can add lime or cement to the subgrade to help get the right density required to meet specs 👍👍

[@roadconstructionahead5830]

Weather can delay a project big time. Main cause of projects going past the expected deadlines.

[@ymajidi]

That was good information and all, but I swear where I live, road construction takes long because there's always one guy shoveling something while 5 other workers just stand around and watch him

[@plotless7436]

I know, year old comment and everything, but this is actually more efficient, they take turns so nobody gets too exhausted and can work for longer.

[@ymajidi]

@@plotless7436 that's a good point, but I know for a fact that is not the case, because I used to be one of those people. They get paid by the hour and they're unionized so nobody can touch them.

[@PresidentEvil]

unions are cancer

[@fsman2306]

It is a safety code and there has to be at least 1 person supervising for the engineers to know if anything is gone wrong and so they don’t hit any major pipes/lines

[@greenyawgmoth]

@@PresidentEvil A+ username/post combo.

[@deadbq95]

As part of the series can we address. The project management aspect, in particular how these are funded and how that affects scheduling? It is so frustrating to see start/stop activity in these projects.

[@donhall2759]

Thanks for the explanation. As the son of a Highway Department Engineering tech (Idaho), I'd love to see you describe, compare and contrast the different techniques for road maintenance: including slurry seal, chip seal, overlay, and complete rebuild, and asphalt versus concrete pavement. More people see these civil engineering projects every day than they see new construction. Thanks again!

[@barneyfife7418]

Every KZbin story, channel and or subject should take note of how well Grady does his. The absolute best at answering questions and doing it all with out over the top screaming or patronizing the viewer, thanks I appreciate you.

[@Wobling]

I've watched your videos for quite a few years now and just wanted to thank you, I have no education in these areas but I absolutely love learning about them this way.

[@yengsabio5315]

Hear, hear!

[@rsan1512]

You forgot the amount of time arguing with the contractor...which last time I check accounts for about 60%

[@juliapeter3658]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2PbdJ-Bo7lontU

[@amostlynottoxicdude8002]

He forgor 💀

[@ralvis20]

Depends on if you're being a reasonable inspector or owner with common sense or a dipshit. If we have to explain to the inspector how to do their job properly, it takes a while lol

[@1linkbelt]

Arguing with your contractor is unprofessional and totally unnecessary. This is why "the work" is done under contract! (I spent 30 years supervising highway const. for a state DOT, I know).

[@TrevorDennis100]

I was on a 16 week course at the Ford Training Centre at Dagenham at the same time as an elevated road was being built 50M south of the site we were based at. The huge machine being used was the same one that built the Queen Elizabeth Bridge over the Thames at Dartford, and the process was beyond fascinating. As engineers we were in heaven having this ringside view of the two lane elevated road slowly advance across the site. It was all I could do to drag myself away from it and return to the class after lunch breaks. It's a memory that will stay with me forever.

[@Ausmerica]

Great explanation on why it takes so long to construct a road. I've worked on many road construction my self. It's also important to note when talking about compaction of soils, that not all soils are compactable. Some soils remain in a sponge like form, even after mixing it with lime or cement, which needs to be removed and replaced with compactable materials.

[@Matthew_Does_To_Many_Things]

I love that my city replaces roads that are perfectly fine. And then they never replace the bad roads.

[@travisterry2200]

When I see that I ask who lives on each street.

[@Vikingwerk]

My town is currently re-building/re-paving about a mile of alley that runs down the middle of town. It's not a road, it's an alley between buildings, normally used only by trash trucks and a few deliveries. While miles and miles of public street are in ruin.

[@pXnTilde]

Portland likes to tax (edit: everyone including) the outer areas of the city to pay for the inner area roads. There people living on gravel roads that are so potholed you can barely drive on them who are paying to replace seemingly fine roads in places they'll never drive.

[@jimmydesouza4375]

There is an actual reason for this, though I don't know if it applies in your situation. Roads can be damaged in ways that are not immediately visible but are very dangerous (such as sub-surface erosion). A pothole isn't that big of a deal. A hundred yards of the road just sloughing away while a truck is going over it or something similar is pretty bad.

[@rockys7726]

@@travisterry2200 Yup, wealthy neighborhoods always get the best roads because they have a bigger tax base.

[@mobilemollusc615]

Speaking of new video series. You should bring back "whats that infastrucure" those where always so interesting

[@Michael_Aune]

Glad you talked about the environmental impacts of construction. The number one pollutant in water is sediment from erosion. Its important to not only install sediment controls, but also to properly maintain them throughout the period of construction

[@TheRealCartman1]

The issue that frustrates everyone isn't when you can see actual work happening, it's when you drive by the same area week after week and nothing is being done, it's just closed off. This is happening right now where I work, the closest expressway entrance is blocked off so I have to drive past it then get onto the expressway and drive past my nearest entrance and you can see there is nothing being done, no equipment, no workers for at least a month.

[@pointbreak2811]

💯

[@frizzletits8511]

"if people are interested" well of course we are that's why every one in the comments in subscribed. Right lads.

[@heikovanderlaar3780]

No, I'm subscribed for the sexy outfits.

[@ahmedraheemah8061]

@cyoungrun1 Why are you commenting here then?

[@marklfc9422]

You're damn right there brother.

[@deadmanprodinc]

@Maximus Prophetus Sure they do, its a British endearment for young men. Not connected to the gay community at all.

[@jasongomez8835]

Right I hate the fact I love n watch his videos I always forget to like n comment

[@JeremyFieldingSr]

For me it's all the industrial machinery at work that makes me want to watch the construction. Great video.

[@leonanderson2473]

Jeremy Fielding My three year old nephew would agree with you.

[@michaeldelvecchio7898]

It was exactly what you said that made me get my CDL and be able to partake in it.

[@ferminfernandez2910]

I wanna know the name of this music 1:06

[@TheOne610]

same!

[@Fuchswinter]

You know I never questioned why construction sites were only accessible through rocky entrances. That’s so interesting. Thank you for this video, I’m really starting to appreciate the long construction projects I see every day

[@MayoFinch]

I finally liked & subscribed thanks to this video. You are one of my favorite content providers. So much of life seems obvious, just because it's there. It isn't until you are presented with the details that things start getting interesting and questions start flowing. Thank you for making the things I see every day make more sense.

[@theonlyari]

Unfortunately this video doesn't address the fact that every road construction project gets started, then stops for 6-8 months, then starts up again for 2 weeks, then stops for another 9 months, and continues this way for 3 years until over the course of 3 days the entire project just miraculously finishes.

[@Name-cy8ym]

Perfectly summary of the widening of I26 in Asheville, NC

[@MrMattumbo]

Well I know depending on local climate most asphalt work cannot happen in the winter, but from my experience, that's rarely the stage the work stalls out on so there's probably other human reasons for it.

[@jong2359]

Follow the money.

[@dakken74]

The 405 freeway in California has been in construction for over 6. Its rediculous.

[@leonjohansen1818]

I-5 in Tacoma and JBLM, lordy.... that think will be under construction until the end of 2024 according to their published timeline.

[@glacialchill]

Hey, dirt guy here. Theres actually a lot more to this testing than was in this video, beyond just how compacted it can get. Never really thought about just how many different kinds of soil mixes are used in construction until I started this job. Even in the face of global pandemic, the dirt must flow.

[@ajm2872]

CEI guy here. I run a Troxler nuke gauge on my jobs :) I was so happy to this video

[@cholulahotsauce6166]

He who controls the dirt, controls the universe!

[@FerralVideo]

There's a major road widening project happening near my house. It's fun to watch all the equipment hard at work. Also, now I know why they dug well over a foot down below grade for the new stretch of highway.

[@dickjones011]

I just got home from working for FEMA in KY and I was amazed at the amount of blasting and removing of rock took place in building some of the highways in eastern KY. I was wondering where all of blasted rock went. I know there wasn't enough fill to use it all. I used to be a Highway Engineer and I really liked this video. Good Job.

[@redcube9629]

Well, the sad part about construction projects here in the Philippines is that most road-related projects often results to nothing ever being finished. Rather than to improve the roads here in the Philippines, most construction projects destroy the road for water piping reasons, only to be done for a long time. They would excavate the road, do whatever they "do", then fill it up poorly, only to come back within a month to do it all over again. I would feel excited about road constructions if my government didn't consist of pigs.

[@peronohaynada]

In my country some people got bored of a hole left mid repair, and bought some baloons and decorations and celebrated its birthday, 2 years old I think it was. Next day they sent a troop to finish the job.

[@ieuanhunt552]

Doesn't the Philippines have lots of Monsoons. Must be a nightmare to keep roads in good repair.

[@jeidun]

@@ieuanhunt552 singapore faces alot of thunderstorms too, but our roads are in good condition! it's who manages the roads. we don't have glass on the roads, and highways and etc.

[@harshithsadhana7475]

we have same problems in india

[@dominikjakaj1999]

same here, it's because of corruption

[@jonathanmatthews4774]

Living in Ottawa, Canada where temps can get from -30C to +30C, I'd love to watch an episode about how road engineers manufacture these temperature changes in. Compounding to that is frost upheaval leading to big bumps and potholes.

[@Shocktrue1]

Temperature doesn't affect dirt much, actually. The problem is the moisture content. Fluctuations in moisture cost the dirt to shrink or expand, and THAT is an issue. Once the dirt is properly compacted at the optimum density, it's ideally capped off with rock or asphalt, which acts as a barrier to letting moisture in or out. Special materials specifically designed as vapor barriers can be added as well, to further protect against those changes. How they modify the asphalt to deal with the weather would be quite interesting, though :)

[@NeighborSenpai]

Not related to roads but in my place the rail company had to shut down a line due to rail expansion by the summer heatwave

[@Alex_Plante]

@@Shocktrue1 In the St-Lawrence lowlands, the water table is often only a few feet below the surface, and in the winter, if the soil is silty, capillary action will suck the water up and cause frost lensing.

[@davidjames4915]

I live in Ottawa too... here they don't actually do much in the way of cut-fill balancing, as best I can tell: they just remove all the soil outright to some considerable depth, place the sewers (if there are any, which there will be in any would-be suburban street) and replace it all with granular. So it's more like cut everywhere, fill everywhere. Owning a quarry in Ottawa is close to having a license to print money. In rural Ottawa, the City has a policy of replacing culverts (they just put in big ones pretty much everywhere now) at least 2 winters before a road is resurfaced so all that frost upheaval and delayed compaction can work its way out before they come along and resurface the road. In some places you can tell when they paved on too hot a day, as a relatively new road will be full of cracks from winter contraction (and the contractors have had to come back to put crack filler in). Carp Rd from Kinburn Rd to Galetta Rd is one such road, as is Stonecrest between Kilkenny and Kinburn.

[@holocene2164]

@@NeighborSenpai That would be an interesting topic as well. Railroads in general, really, including the making, building, maintenance and issues that can arise...

[@christianngakam4467]

Hello Mr. Grady, I love this video, and since I am a university student in the department of civil engineering, this video is helping me in adding knowledge to that of my courses and permit me to do more research. Once more I encourage you and I wish you the best, thanks.

[@crackpotfox]

Hey I’ve done this one! I worked as an intern for SCDOT construction. Regarding the dirt density testing, the dirt proctor tests are actually done in the field. A sample of dirt is placed in a sealed pressure vessel with a chemical that reacts with water, along with a ball bearing around an inch diameter. You spin the pressure vessel (it’s around the size of a football) in a specified manner and check the pressure gauge on the vessel. You then use a table to determine the moisture content of the dirt, which is then used in conjunction with the nuclear gauges you mentioned to measure density. It’s probably the coolest test they get to do, although it’s a bit of a pain.

[@mafarnz]

As a professional driver, someone that spends her working days out on the road, although construction delays are frustrating, I do like seeing construction projects because it usually means, once things are completed, safer faster and smoother roads.

[@TheOriginalBlue62]

It's just the growing pains that come with them XD

[@Nyx_2142]

By the time they get done fixing one section, the old section they fixed is fucked again because of how cheaply done it was. Source: I live in Ohio.

[@adamgray1753]

I have seen entire concrete sections of the road on I-30 both W and E in the DFW area and towards East Texas take down the highway down to one lane. Usually to be excavated and repaired down to it's very foundation before new concrete is poured. I have noticed multiple times since traffic slowed down walking speeds alot of the time in those times. It is rather nice to know that the State of Texas's Department of Transportation takes it's job seriously enough to do these repair jobs instead of going with the "Good luck, everyone!" approach.

[@garyaustin7987]

Adam Gray gotta love the dfw roads and the constant construction

[@IngridRollema]

Unless it's the boondoggle that is the toll lanes on I-77 through and north of Charlotte, NC. Safer? Hardly. Faster? Sure, during quarantine when there's little to no traffic. Smoother? Ha! 2-4 inch differences between lanes in some places and deep gouges where old lane lines were "removed"!

[@Barack_Hussein_Obama]

"Soil is heavy and roads are long" -Practical engineering 2020

[@kenmaxwell7413]

Please make more videos for this series! This was great. Thank you so much for doing this.

[@daveditcher4059]

I love this stuff. When I was working we built lots of “temporary” haul roads around various construction sites. Although these did not get pavement in the end, they did have to stand up to a steady stream of off road dump trucks that weigh 90-100,000 pounds. Importing large quantities of suitable materials is a budget breaker, so we would use stabilization products to get the soil to compact properly. Expensive business either way. Good job Grady.

[@truthsmiles]

8:43 - the slack in that dozer's track made me very uncomfortable haha.

[@wereboarder2009]

Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed. They're going to have fun when it slips a track.

[@bubbabubba100]

There is a term known as “track slack” that has to do with slight chain slack on bicycles used for sprints and time trials. That has nothing to do with the dozer, though. I am also feeling uneasy.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

All tracked vehicles need some slack, but too much can result in a lot of damage and downtime when that track slips, and often bends out of shape. On the flip side, if you have zero or insufficient slack, you can damage your suspension and drive components when you go over rough ground and obstacles. Each type of track use has different standards. You will usually find that dozers have very deep sprocket paths and rugged/thick steel to reduce the change of throwing a track. On tanks, weight can be more of a concern, to there are usually inward-facing cleats that help keep the track in path. Rubber tracks on smaller equipment has guide cleats as well, but those tracks are often more forgiving if they slip off, and tend not to develop permanent bends as easily. - - I've worked on all of these examples, and I prefer re-setting a rubber track to the linked track on a dozer or tank.

[@crazygn0me67]

Nothing better than throwing a track in the mud or a brush pile.

[@timfagan816]

You think that's bad, the way the hydraulic hose is wrapped around that cylinder at 2:55 makes me even more uneasy, than track slack.

[@FrydChikn100]

I've been a geotech and roadway engineer over my 4 years in the field, this is a great video! I'll use it instead of trying to explain what I do when someone asks

[@awg6397]

I worked in a soil mechanics lab for 7 years while I was (slowly) making my way through a construction management degree. Ive pounded out MANY a Proctor test, calculated and graphed many a density curve, and rolled probably 20x the Atterburg Limits test. The man I worked for trained under Arthur Casagrande at Harvard, he was ridiculously intelligent

[@foranken]

Another great narration and video mix. You have a gift, and are sharing it. Many Blessings to you!

[@simoncameron4355]

I used to work for a road construction company while going to college, my dad did it for 40 years of his life. Thank you for helping people understand a little more about this process!

[@tekitez3949]

"I get to see the slow, but steady progress each day." That's the gotcha right there, greetings from Greece!

[@shawnpa]

I didn't know that cut and fill had to be balanced, and the exactness required for compacting soil. You see this all the time and think. That guy's rolled that ground enough. Cool stuff. Thanks.

[@ColdSiris]

the 299 straightening in Redding CA was awesome to watch progress. massive earthworks constructed to straighten the road that winds around the hills in northern california, it was hell to travel through but amazing to watch when you were stuck waiting

[@ronmiller7916]

I95 in CT around exit 9. Started driving that in the late '70's and 30 years later they were done. 1 mile of highway. The joke was you saw 3 generations of workers. 1 mile. 1 freakin' mile.

[@Dratchev241]

come to Indiana, where the same sections of roads are always under construction. I think they have had I-69 from Indianapolis north to Anderson under construction for 20 years. and it seems when it looks like they have it done, they tear it all up again to redo it. Another fun one is city roads get redone, then two months later it is tore up for the city owned water/sewer pipe replacement once done the new road is now a junk road and it is like that for 20 years.

[@Alex_Plante]

Where I live, politicians will announce a project before each election for 50 years before building it, then they'll build a phase, and spend the next 30 years announcing phase 2.

[@AwkwardYet]

Michigan has entered the chat

[@GrimOxford]

Tony Dratchev lets be real, Indiana doesn’t know how to make a flat surface on any of the interstates...idk how many times I’ve driven through and thought “Jesus Christ, I don’t even know how to pave a road and I’m pretty sure I could do better than this bs.”

[@gavinsmith8844]

Haha I know that area you are talking about.

[@chickenlady9340]

I really appreciate that you don’t feel the need to use loud music as a background. So refreshing. Love these videos!

[@ye942]

love practical engineering, you explain things so well, thank you.

[@chiedzamatowe4397]

Thank you so much for being elaborate. It's actually an interesting process even though it takes time.

[@TheImmortuary]

This is my bread and butter. Im modeling a large highway project in civil 3d as we speak.

[@Cheezymuffin.]

are coffee brakes included?

[@Possiblekim]

Likewise bro. Though it is good to travel to site to see what is going on. I have many people from public designing a road is as simple as drawing a line on a map. Least they forget about undesirable terrain, survey works, existing utilities, wayleave application and the list goes on.

[@richwojehowski1123]

@@Cheezymuffin. Disc or drum?

[@markchatman9583]

My bread and butter too, except I operate the equipment building the roads.

[@waskasoometalworks3329]

KZbin university is a great thing 🤣😜

[@MrJcra15]

“I love construction” only to be said from someone sitting at the desk planning it lol.

[@bigbole7335]

I love digging up my broken conduit after the super told everyone grade was 2 feet higher than it was and the people making the road broke all my underground shit

[@bigredc222]

@@bigbole7335 Or you tell the F_cking plumber were your pipe is and he digs through it anyway.

[@gavinmcinally8442]

@@bigredc222 why would a plumber be digging up your pipes. Did you put your pipes in the wrong place again?

[@thomasr1051]

Haha this is comment section is going to be a beautiful shit show of trades. Unrelated, electricians are far superior

[@Lemonade20016]

@@thomasr1051 Nice one. But it is clearly the carpenters who are superior tradespeople! Lol

[@burnuts007]

100% agree on the drive to work seeing ongoing construction. I’m watching 4 major light rail stations being built on my route.

[@switchenglish_au]

What a fantastic job you have done describing this process with different levels of vocabulary. I teach business English and use videos from various content creators to aid my lessons. This is really great content. Thanks for your work!

[@LetsTakeWalk]

*Looks at Japan, who completely rebuild a highway in 3 weeks after it got swept away by a Tsunami*

[@rokadamlje5365]

Well its nice to work on a clean slate...

[@garandx]

@@rokadamlje5365 Dont really have to bid clearing and grubbing on that one XD

[@Firem1nded]

"Slow but steady" curious to see how you make me see that. Sometimes it's just 'slow' with noone to be seen on the construction site for weeks.

[@FriedrichHerschel]

Sometimes, they work at night, because less traffic, and therefore less danger to the workers.

[@TheKopakah]

No construction site will voluntarily halt progress, cost loads of money to keep renting money and lengthening other contracts. There will always ve a good reason for halted progress. Or maybe you're not paying enough attention to the progress ;)

[@andrewv5104]

The progress could also be taking place in areas that you can't see from where your at. Most road projects are large as larger scales make them more cost effective.

[@DFPercush]

When they get the contract they mess things up in a hurry so there's no choice but to eventually finish it, then put it off while they finish all the other contracts that they started and left half done for months.

[@chaosmagican]

Sometimes they take long breaks for bridges to settle but most times here it's the same. He says he likes them on commutes because he can see the progress. Here you can have one on your annual holiday route because they just ain't changing.

[@justinw7323]

All they do is literally stand around. One waves the other sips on his coffee talking to his friend.

[@justinw7323]

@Gizmo Tronics and ruin your day with loud noises at 6 am

[@mikeumm]

I was a laborer on hwy construction for a few years. If you're working with machines you can't do anything while the machine is working, or you'll die. So you end up busting your ass in short bursts in assistance of the machine operator.

[@justinw7323]

@@zugzug6773 they also love to wake you up at 6 am. They are the most obnoxious people on the planet.

[@djblackprincecdn]

@@justinw7323 6am? Ha, the forecast calls for 35C and the bridge footing pour needs to get started before sunrise to give the concrete the best chance of curing properly. Hello 4am pours. you're welcome.

[@timothygrell4398]

@@justinw7323 stop whining and get to work. You're being lazy sun is up and we work till it is down.

[@rebornvirgin]

they’re doing a lot of construction on I-635 and i’ve seen a lot of progress being made. just drove on a new service road they built it was so awesome!

[@loganlittell4769]

One of the weirdest things I learned in a trip into northern Alaska was the roads changed every season. they could not form a foundation due to environmental and logistical issues. So, as the frost in the soil froze, melted, then refroze the road on top bends over new hills and valleys!

[@jijst5]

The landscape elevation changes every season in Alaska? Can you explain a bit more about this??

[@loganlittell4769]

@@jijst5 the water in the soil melts and refreezes over the course of year and it’s enough to mess with the elevation of small hills. Imagine trying to build on an extremely slow waterbed

[@3tomas]

With a name like Grady, it's no surprise he's into road construction.

[@user-sx1fg7lc3c]

I never realized my interest in engineering until i saw this channel. Honestly i didnt really know what engineering was. I learn more from this channel than most of my classes in school. I wish i went to school to be an engineer now, its fascinating.

[@jamesengland7461]

I think our chief complaint with road construction is the time it takes for smaller projects, like the repair of an intersection on a 4 lane street on my commute which took 16 months! Or widening projects that lie dormant for weeks, or lanes shut off for weeks without construction equipment even arriving, etc.

[@johnaquino7619]

. . . . Compacting soil is more effective when done in layers: That sounds remarkably useful in how I plan my sandcastles on the beach from here on out. Neat! :-)

[@The_Forge_Master]

I'd like to take this time to point you to his "Mechanically Stabilized Earth" video from 2016.

[@dietrichris]

Actual reason change orders occur. Engineer: Let’s take two years to design this project and anything we don’t understand we’ll just add the risk onto the Contractor with a general note somewhere before it goes out to bid. Contractor: How long do we have to submit questions on the bid you took two years designing? Engineer: Two days after the Pre-Bid Meeting. Make sure you read every general note, every specification section, every detail, every document referenced, and all Addendums Issued because we still couldn’t design it right after two years. Make sure your subcontractors adhere to every specification too. Also, make sure you let the Engineer know of any discrepancies prior to bid submission. Contractor: Here is your Change Order. We couldn’t possibly read all the information provided in the specifications thoroughly with in a few days time and find all your mistakes too. Of course when we did want to discuss the project, there was a cone of silence in place so we couldn’t. Even when we submit questions, the Engineer is usually too risk adverse to give the Contractor a straight answer. So, here is your RFI and Change Order after the fact. Engineer: I can’t believe the Contractor didn’t read our note. Contractor: Wishes all Engineers would be more realistic.

[@InfernosReaper]

Sounds like you've got some experience....

[@ericl8743]

And a lot of times the developer wants things built before. Design is complete so an engineer may spend a couple months on design but construction starts after only a couple of weeks so then the building is being designed while constructed then the developer just pays for the mistakes along the way

[@foxopossum]

Ahahahaha I am new into this world and don’t have a lot of experience yet, but you’re comment is hilarious!!!! I work for the engineers. Super duper smart guys and gals that just kinda make me wanna pull my hair out🤣🤣🤣

[@spudatbattleaxe]

The problem with engineers is even tho it might look good on paper, they really have no idea of what the practical application will take

[@picturemetrollin2093]

dietrichris lol! Engineer: What do you mean, you can’t put 10 gallons of shit in a 5 gallon bucket? Me: You are a f#*king idiot! That’s what I mean.

[@johannesmajamaki2626]

These projects always seems to start off well, but then they seem to hit some kind of a roadblock.

[@1linkbelt]

"Projects hitting a roadblock". That, I like. lol

[@roadconstructionahead5830]

There's always something that will slow a project down. Weather, missing materials, concrete plants breaking down, asphalt plants breaking down, trucks breaking down. Other projects that have deadlines that are sooner than the project they started on. You could go on and on all day with things that can slow down or even halt a road project.

[@floridapunkarchivist]

Greetings from Florida. I know what you mean as my daily commute includes mile marker 58 to mile marker 90 round trip on I-4 in Orlando. I've been doing this for 3 and a half years during the I-4 Ultimate Project. I loved construction before but it's been amazing watching not only the growth but the decrease in traffic as the construction team nears it completion.

[@duradim1]

Correction: Road building is always slow but never steady.

[@danialexquande7813]

Well , its depend on the quality of the material such as subgrade, agregate from the quarry and etc .its all take consideration from that

[@killman369547]

@@danialexquande7813 It also depends on how much the unions want to drag their feet too. Road construction wouldn't take as long if they weren't mandated to take a break every 5 minutes.

[@kevinholmes1048]

@@killman369547 As someone who has worked in and supervised both union and non union civil construction I'm confident you don't know what your talking about. Way to throw workers under the bus to score political points though. prick.

[@TheUglyWhale]

@@kevinholmes1048 people like that are the ones who wouldn't last 5 min in construction and don't understand how grueling it is

[@johnscott353]

@@killman369547 a lot of projects require inspectors on-site 24/7 and engineers/state officials go out a lot to watch something get done which maybe what you see. But the construction workers themselves work their asses off rarely getting breaks you have zero idea what you're talking about

[@hectorandem2944]

08:43 "It's all geometry?" Hanzo: "Always has been."

[@mohammedm3002]

This is the best video about engineering that i have ever seen. Keep it going .

[@GKCTPP]

Well edited video. The explanation and visuals really tied in well to help the whole explanation. Fantastic video.

[@travisterry2200]

As an HMA QC Tech, I'm interested and entertained in this series. I also appreciate you educating people what some of us do for them. 👍

[@MrDKOz_Gaming]

Really enjoy your videos, thank you - definitely interested in more videos.

[@TheFrostcave]

Did a road cut in downtown Seattle and fun fact, old towns just keep layering. The road we were on had 4 inches of asphalt, layer of brick, trolley tracks, concrete, wood, rock, then sand, and rock. Amazing stuff.

[@dgsantafedave1]

I commuted to San Francisco in a vanpool for about 30 years. I watched them build two bridges (Carquinez and the new Bay Bridge) now I know why it took so long. On the entrance to the Bay Bridge they started rerouting and compacting the road base about 2 years before the concrete/asphalt was laid. Thanks for this video it puts all of my views of the building process into perspective!

[@xxmountaindewxx7893]

'most of us dont want to wear a protective body suit for our daily commute' All about that squid life x3

[@proximalgaming]

Living in Los Angeles and orange counties, I always wondered what the hell was taking so long, now I see how much work goes into this, at $3m per mile at a two lane road I can't even imagine the time effort and cost into a 16 lane freeway, keep this content coming sir

[@mtadams2009]

Its to bad we did not infest in mass transportation instead of pouring so much capital into building so many roadways they generally turn into parking lots much of the day. I live outside NYC and if I take the train it take 25 minutes if I drive it can take 1.5 hours. If we had good mass transportation that 25 minute ride could be ten minutes. Instead we just keep throwing money into fixing roads.

[@gpsoftsk1]

@@mtadams2009 At least in Europe we have much more wisdom on this one. And China is even further with this.

[@KalRandom]

@@mtadams2009 The US used to have a mass transit system. Then Henry Ford made cars affordable to the average person, which would also run on about any combustible. Then John D. Rockefeller bought up all the tram lines and which went from one coast to the other, while building up his gas station businesses and other oil company's. Had people lobby for and backed The Suffrage Movement, which started prohibition. That made it so no one could make there own fuel and had to buy it from Rockefeller. History can be fascinating once you look at the whole picture.

[@Warsie]

@@KalRandom don't forget the suburban sprawl prompted for racial reasons and GM literally buying tram lines in 1950s to demolish them all to replace with buse...

[@KNR90]

Meanwhile in my city it's not all all about how long it takes to build the road. They get built 3-5 times. They get built, dug up to install basic utilities, then rebuilt. Repeat because they couldn't be bothered to coordinate so every road has to be build repeatedly. Surface roads are built about 5 times, highways built 2-3 times. And that's all before they widen the roads, which begins 3 days after the road was finally completed and continues for 5-20 years because they do the exact same thing with bridges. That may seem like an exaggeration but the latest ring road has already begun widening areas with narrow bridges that were built narrow despite being intended to be widened in areas 8 years old. The ring hasn't yet even been completed in areas that were started a decade ago

[@alexanderhaile6196]

He gets excited to see the "slow but steady progress" of construction... Then there's me who grew up in Dallas and saw the I635 and I75 interchange under construction for 15 years, constantly backing up traffic for miles, rarely seeing anyone working on it.

[@Merennulli]

This dealt more with new construction, which doesn't delay people as much. I think what we're upset about is the long stretches that close down for a few miles to have a lane closed for 13 months a year. I know the causes vary from utility maintenance under the road to regrading, but why those take so long, or in some cases, never seem to get done, is what's mind boggling. There's a stretch of I-70 that has had the same lane closed with orange barrels since the Western Interior Seaway receded in the late Cretaceous.

[@harshitrautela6585]

But aren't there only 12 months in a year??

[@Merennulli]

@@harshitrautela6585 Yes. I was using hyperbole, a form of intentional exaggeration. Hyperbole is mainly used to convey emotions that don't come across well in literal wording. In this case, it's conveying the extreme frustration with construction projects that take too long and have no clear end to them. If I had said 12 months a year, you would assume I was being literal, so I had to pick 13 so you would know it was hyperbole. It's the same as the Beatles song "8 days a week" is complaining about an excessive work schedule by exaggeration, or my mention of orange barrels being there since the late Cretaceous period. With things that don't have hard limits like these examples, people will either use extremes (eg. "not in a million years") or intentionally fictitious numbers (eg. "not for a bajillion dollars")

[@LobbySeatWarmer]

I'm gonna need an episode on how local council know when I'm running late for work before digging up 3 lanes.

[@alohathaxted]

So thats why I see so many guys standing around the construction site staring at the ground, seemingly doing nothing, they’re compacting the soil.

[@edwin3928ohd]

Thank you!!! That's what I am trying to say. They all either mope around looking around while "working" or the other scenario... no one is there for weeks or months at a time while the road is closed.

[@TheOriginalBlue62]

@@edwin3928ohd The human foot *is* one of the most efficient compaction tools!

[@spidythe]

It may appear to public that nothing is happening or section of roadway is closed for no reason, but time is money for most contractors and delaying jobs costs them a lot, so usually there are good reasons for construction staging, scheduling and workers are working their asses off.

[@cjespers]

Thanks for the video, Grady!

[@A1441]

This is fascinating. You made this subject very interesting for me to watch and learn. Thank you!

[@kelsanggyudzhin2340]

The world: Is in chaos My response: Watch interesting road engineering video to maintain sanity.

[@samuelevans5750]

Xeno Phon it should all be over in 2023 gratefully. New generation is tearing everything down and make everything right. Been real bad since the bad decisions of that generation in 2008, and everythings bern boring. New generation is exciting.

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

@@samuelevans5750 "New generation is tearing everything down" Merely this part, building anything (as shown on this channel) is complicated. "New generation is exciting." Sure, very exciting. Especially Generation Identity. ;)

[@mixedberries4937]

@@samuelevans5750 ?

[@videoswithsubscribers-xk5hb]

Ahh.. this was a refreshing change from all the rioting and conflict that has been in my feed lately

[@calvinthedestroyer]

I keep selecting "not interested" but youtube keeps trying to cram those videos down my throat

[@mikes9939]

The only thing wrong with this video is that it is not long enough with more detail and explanations. We just get a taste of what is a subject that needs much more discussion. Your video is great and my comments are meant to be a request that you do another video of this subject and really get some information to us even if it's longer. Your explanations of things in all your videos has been very good and we appreciate them all. I personally crave information like this so please keep up the terrific work.

[@MoleRecruitment-kh6gu]

Really interesting - thanks for putting this together - I will definitely be watching more

[@jafizzle95]

Very curious about this one. My city takes like 2 weeks to repave the road, and 7-8 months to repaint the lines and put the reflectors back on.

[@jur4x]

How about this one: few weeks after road is repaved, another team arrives to replace pipes or cables under the road.

[@_BangDroid_]

I worked on roads early in my life. I can attest to the sheer laziness of some of these workers. Some places now impose fines if the contract takes too long.

[@NPSao]

At my place it's mandatory for local authorities to always choose the cheapest contractor, doesn't mean stuff gets done fast, but it's suppose to stop local authorities from giving contracts to 'friends'.

[@Possiblekim]

You are talking about the soil that has been properly consolidated, compacted, and already built up to platform level. that is the case, things can be done very quickly. If you are talking about starting from scratch, then yeah, it is as explained to the video. However, what he discuss on the video is just tip of the iceberg. He did not mentioned about soil settlement, constraint such as undesirable terrains, protected land and even other non nature related problems.

[@Possiblekim]

@@_BangDroid_ Don't forget about Hooke's Law for soil. They might waiting for the soil to "relax" so that it does not go over the limit of proportionality. If it is over, it is very hard to get a nice compact surface especially in clay soils

[@peterseinfeld]

Every time I drive by road construction I see one guy working and 6 supervisors standing around him making sure he does a good job. Maybe if they added a 7th this would help??

[@gerac]

Please, continue with the series! Your channel is awesome!

[@grantlaing7465]

It would be interesting to see something about how new roads are layed out by surveyors and how equipment operators know where and how much to cut or fill. Great video, by the way. Yes to more on road building!

[@vanbeet5105]

Equipment operators eg graders, dozers, rollers, excavators usually work under very close supervision of a Earthworks Foreman who is aware of the quantities and locations where cut or fill is required.

[@jbtechcon7434]

My gf has been offered a lot of bribes to give passing ratings to half-done soil compaction.

[@wereboarder2009]

That's just straight up negligence. Sinkhole city to whoever actually accepts those bribes.

[@jasonmurawski5877]

wereboarder2009 they said they were offered, not accepted

[@luniacllama8373]

@@jasonmurawski5877 he told "whoever accepts" it and no specific person

[@heikovanderlaar3780]

I'd just like to make it clear that I'm perfectly happy to accept bribes. Please send bribes.

[@caramonmajere447]

That's because a failed compaction test can result in a 6 month waiting period.

[@SuicideNeil]

Road-repair takes even longer, some of the potholes in my town are a decade old :P

[@cjski21]

I’m an engineer with FHWA and you explained this much better than anyone I’ve ever heard.

[@annereilley4892]

Very articulate. One of the rare youtubers who would say "there are roads" and not "there's roads."