Potholes

[nefematic]

Together with my wife we spent a few days in Kent, and visiting Angus shop on Saturday. We‘ve been to England quite a few times over the years, also to Wales and Ireland. But good lord this year the potholes! Either my memory is slipping me or the state of pavement has deteriorated drastically. Tell me it hasn‘t always been this bad! You could sink half a car in some of the ponds on the roadside. (OK, it was a bit rainy) These roads need some work

Martin

[mgcjag]

HI Martin..how are you...... it has got very bad....you know what us Brits are like a bit of snow and all the trains and airports shut..well its not just any old snow its the tarmac eating kind......but it does make you concentrate on the road ahead ....all the best.....Steve

[nefematic]

Steve,

doing fine, thank you! I haven‘t read all the magazines yet, still working on that. I do have my E on the road so thats good. My goal achieved! To get it running, welded and roadtested without total disassembley. Hoping for 3000 miles this season, I‘ll see how that works out. Cyl #4 isn‘t cooperating too well, but, she runs! Maybe my E will make it up to GB for at least one event this year, we‘ll see. Thanks for your ongoing moderating effort! Without the forum and the kind help of its members no chance of me getting the E on the road!

Martin

[mgcjag]

Will put a good word in and try to get the holes filled befor your next visit all the best... Steve

[chrisfell]

The road surfaces this year have become bad. Little or no maintenance last year, plus one of the longest coldest winter/springs we’ve had for a while, all adds up to a lot of road surface damage.

It is, however, nothing compared to a journey I had in April 1987. I drove from the Dutch coast to the Mosel and then to Helmsted, which was at that time on the border between west and east Germany. The roads were terrible. Even the autobahn. On most of the journey I had to drive in the fast lane, so chewed up was the slow lane. If something quicker came up behind me, I had to slow down to crawl along the slow lane until the fast lane was clear enough to build up speed again.

A few years later I went back again. Roads had been improved, and Helmstedt was no longer a border town.

[nefematic]

Chris,

before the border fell we had a few trips over to east Germany to have some Mercedes chrome parts remufactured and others rechromed in Zwickau, the former site of Horch. The roads were dismal! Lots of Cobblestone in bad shape. Since those days a lot of money has gone into east Germany so that for almost two decades the more modern Autobahns were in the east. The west might be catching up again, but yes our local roads also have a lot to wish for. Driving back today from Dover, at least some of the Autobahn let me do 140mph. I wouldn‘t dare that on most US highways.

[Simon P]

I drove the A27 from Chichester to Portsmouth on Saturday. Jay-zus - the road surface is delaminating! Got to be amongst the worst I've ever seen - not fun at speed in the wet!

[Tony]

Don't worry, we have divers down looking at the problem as we speak.

[Durango2k]

Well,

Now you all know why Erich Honecker, the last leader of the German Democratic Republic (what a name for what it actually was, orwellian as could-be) had quiet a bunch of ... Citroen CX. He knew his roads...

So, what is a proper response ? Buy an antique Citroen, like DS, CX, SM. Or maybe a Hydrolastic british model ?

Carsten, living 130 km south of Helmstedt (in the west)

[chrisfell]

Chris,

before the border fell we had a few trips over to east Germany to have some Mercedes chrome parts remufactured and others rechromed in Zwickau, the former site of Horch. The roads were dismal! Lots of Cobblestone in bad shape.

My next trip back to Helmstedt was in 1991, after the wall had come down. Helmstedt, being a border town had sections of masonry wall, just as existed in Berlin. One section had been pushed down to make a temporary road into a village called Schöningen. Once through this villlage re tried to drive back to Helmstedt along local roads. They were as you describe, ancient cobbles. But where they had been repaired by the Eastern authorities they were only suitable for military traffic - no good for cars. We had one side of the car on repaired cobbles, while the other had to suffer the unrepaired surface. It was a slow journey.

Another feature of driving in the East so soon after the wall had fallen was that there were absolutely no road signs to anywhere in West Germany. We had to guess which road to take. We got lost. A lot.

[chrisfell]

I drove the A27 from Chichester to Portsmouth on Saturday. Jay-zus - the road surface is delaminating! Got to be amongst the worst I've ever seen - not fun at speed in the wet!

I regularly use this stretch. It was been getting worse for several years. There are plans to resurface the affected sections, but as you say it is quite an awful road. I am used to it now, I think I can remember most of the bad sections. In any case, knowing the roads are bad my driving strategy has adapted.

Most importantly, I drive with a very healthy gap to the car in front. And I watch the road surface so that I can adjust my position in the lane I’m driving to miss the worst holes, but without making sudden changes in direction. I also watch the traffic ahead, particularly the non professional traffic - white van man and most cars. When these hit a rutted section there is obvious movement in the vehicle. Gives me advance warning of problems.

[Simon P]

Perhaps one of these is required.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Funny-Gift-Y ... xyBLBR8k~t

(OK, I know we don't pay road tax on our cars anymore, but what the heck....)

[mach2andy]

[Herzeg]

Love it Are there chips down there as well?

John