Colin McEnroe Show: Potholes Are Unbearable
Winter left us with a lot of snow and a lot of potholes.
Published: Mar 07, 2011
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Flickr Creative Commons, stevendepolo
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Colin McEnroe Show: The Ever-Present, Always Unbearable Pothole
We can put a man on the moon. Why can't we make our roads look less like the moon?
And if we can't do that, why can't we design a car that's more like a lunar rover?
If you know the name Amar Bose, you probably associate it it with beautiful sounds pouring out of speakers, not with the ugly sound of your wheel whacking into a pothole.
But for the last 30 years, Bose and his engineers in Framingham, Mass. have been looking for a way to defeat the pothole which Bose described as more indomitable than Mount Everest.
In one interview, Bose said he had become much more obsessed with redesigning car suspensions than with his far more famous work in audio technology. But you still can't have a Bose suspension system in your car and, let's face it, for the next three months, you're basically going to be driving on the surface of the moon in a car designed for Earth.
Leave your comments below, e-mail colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.
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E-mail from David
I'm a huge fan, long time listener...
Please accept my sincere comments for the driving public of Connecticut.
First, thanks to the Department of Transportation for their attention to the roads--it is clearly a challenging and never-ending, thankless job.
Drivers, there is simple things to do when you drive: wear safety belts, keep speeds appropriate for conditions and pay attention! If you see a hole, avoid it, and let someone know it exists so others might avoid it.
I hope you'll also be willing to reiterate to drivers to stop texting, calling, searching, and tweeting whilst behind the wheel. Driving while distracted is bad enough--conditions only contribute to the problem!
Thanks!
Best, and I hope you continue to feel better,
E-mail from Jane
I'm wondering whether the method of snow removal makes a difference in the ultimate condition of the roadway. Our local Public Works director is resisting the idea of using Magic Salt as the State and many other municipalities do. Does it make sense that dissolving the snow and ice reduces the amount of plowing and therefore keeps the asphalt in better condition?
E-mail from Sara
While I must admit that when I heard the previews for your up and coming pothole show I hoped it may be about creative places to store illegal (but hopefully soon to be de-criminalized substances) or even an update on Charlie Sheen, I'm really enjoying this program. Much like our love of laughing You Tube babies or our dislike of Malloy's budget, potholes unite us. I can't wait to use my new pothole knowledge in future social situations. Thanks for keeping us always abreast of the latest minutia.
E-mail from Bill
What about putting down mesh on top of and between layers. Or just use self assembling nano materials.
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