Ever driven down a gravel road and hit a washboard that makes your car bounce in ways it doesn’t like and then cursed the county for having such crappy roads? It’s not all their fault. Some of that comes back to you. At a recent Anderson County Commission meeting, Anderson County Road Department Foreman, Ethan Lickteig, talked with commissioners about the condition of the roads after a heavy rain. One thing that can help? Slowing down. Licktieg says if drivers would slow down and not speed up to a stop sign because when they hit that washboard that gets them bouncing around, it magnifies the problem. But, when water, vehicle weight and speed conflict, the outcome is usually a mess on unpaved county roads.
Gravel roads rely on a crown to help drain the water off. Driving on gravel when the road is wet, wears that crown down. So, what do you do if you have to get somewhere on a rainy day? If you want your road to last longer, experts say, find a route to hard pavement – even if it takes you longer to get to your destination. If you can’t get to pavement – just slow down.
