On hot days like last Tuesday, road stewards are dying. Because not only we humans are hot, the road surface can hardly bear the heat in some places. “Concrete is alive, it shrinks and in hot weather it expands. When two concrete slabs press hard against each other, those slabs eventually rise. In the worst case scenario, cars can then be launched”, says Sven van Reusel, road inspector for the province of Noord-Brabant.
He refers to so-called ‘concrete splashes’. Concrete retains the heat and due to the extreme heat the temperature of the concrete slabs rises considerably. As a result, they press against each other. The plates can then rise and in the worst case slide over each other.
Rain can cool the road surface, but according to Van Reusel, a shower does not always help. “Concrete takes on average a long time to cool.” Also on the provincial road N285. From the A17, the road to Zevenbergen was closed on Tuesday evening because the road surface turned out to be too hot.
“Concrete stays warm for a very long time. We have to wait for the weather to cool down and shrink.”
The concrete was also there. “We broke the concrete to relieve the tension. Tuesday night we will close the street with cobblestones, so that traffic can hopefully get through it again soon. Concrete will be poured again at that spot at a later date. The concrete stays warm for a very long time, so we have to wait for it to cool down and shrink.”
Van Reusel and his colleagues manage 550 kilometers of provincial roads in Brabant. He expects the road to Zevenbergen to be open again on Wednesday morning.
“That’s all because of the heat, then electrical parts malfunction more often.”
But Tuesday wasn’t just about bursting concrete. Some traffic lights also gave out because of the heat. And railway barriers remained closed. “It’s all because of the heat, which means that electrical components are more likely to malfunction. Tuesday was an extreme day, we don’t experience that very often. Let’s just say it’s been a useful, meaningful, busy day.”
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