On Fri, 19 Mar 2021 15:19:35 GMT, HVS
wrote:



There are some stretches of the M25 -- through Surrey and Kent (I
think) -- that are still concrete slabs with expansion joints; I
absolutely hate driving on them because of the noise.

I could be mis-remembering, but ISTR reading some years ago that the
Highways Agency/MoT tender calls for resurfacing don't specify which
material is to be used -- that is, it's left up to the companies
bidding for the contract to choose whichever one they they can supply
at best price.

I read, a long time ago, that the type of road surface tended to be a
reflection of the state of the economy: concrete - economy poor;
tarmac - economy good.
(I remember when the A50 Uttoxeter bypass was built towards Stoke on
Trent, within a few weeks of opening a local village (somewhere near
Checkley) erected signs on it complaining of the traffic noise from
the concrete road surface.)