This photo heads an article in The American Mind, a publication of the Claremont Institute by Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox, entitled "Why Johnny Can't Build." It shows an example of the deterioration of our highways.
The authors blame much of the problem on the inappropriate shifting of public transportation resources to public transport - trains and light rail. Even when we do pave highways, we don't do a good job.
Once a week in summers the DrsC drive US 89 round-trip between Alpine and Jackson WY, The beautiful road parallels the south fork of the Snake River and is relatively busy for a two lane highway. It is exposed to lots of snow, freezing nights for half the year, and significant freeze-thaw periods in spring and fall.
US 89 was more or less completely resurfaced with the job concluding two autumns ago, they did a nice job as far as this non-engineer could tell. This summer, two years later, it is showing signs of wear - cracks, rough spots, nothing as bad as the photo above, but it isn't holding up.
I expect it will completely need redoing in another couple of years. What this tells me is that the job 2-3 years ago wasn't done properly.
When the road base is carefully built up to a depth of 6 feet or so, the surface holds up longer. My guess is this step was skimped or half-done. Doing it properly is costly and the cost doesn't show when the job is done, but it is cheaper in the long run.
Politicians are always worried about the next election, and thus are terrible at taking the long view. They are always looking for immediate payoffs on the cheap that may help get them reelected. It is a weakness of our system, one we need to recognize and compensate for.
Another example was the spillway for Oroville Dam in California. They poured the concrete without embedding the necessary web of reinforcing rods, The first time heavy rains ran significant water down that spillway it disintegrated and had to be rebuilt, this time with rebar embedded.
