Quote Originally Posted by theGinsue View Post
Serious question to those "in the know": Which is honestly worse for the roads (and ultimately worse for taxpayers), lowering the plow blade to asphault level where the blade will get worn down more quickly (vice 1-2" above - which causes transportation ice rinks), or melting snow/ice into cracks which then re-freezes and causes potholes? ETA: FULL DISCLOSURE: Growing up in MO near KC and in my 3.5 yrs in MA near Boston the plows trucks always had their blades down to road level and they were much safer than what I've seen since '95 when I moved to CO.
Depends on the pavement material and condition. On Vail pass the plows remove 1-2 inches of asphalt per year. Mainly from the blades shaving the peaks of the ruts from truck tire chains. We are trying 3 concrete test sections to see if tire chain rutting can be mitigated. Monitoring the wear of the test sections and new asphalt placed last year.

Asphalt that is cracked is very vulnerable to freeze thaw damage causing layer delamination and chucking of the pavement.

On concrete blades can chip away the corners of the panels as they curl up from temperature diferential.

Most concrete placed in the last 40 years is air entrained to mitigate freezing damage. Most damage you see at joints is from the de-icer. The chloride reacts with the concrete and forms an expansive gel the beaks apart the concrete. This is mitigated with coal fly ash, slag or other pozzolanic materials. Cdot pavement for the past 20+ years has mitigated this reaction. Local roads, especially El Paso County concrete roads do not contain the required pozzolan for mitigation. This county is run by the developers who do not want to use it since it slows down strength gain a few days. These idiots running El Paso County are saving a few days today for expensive early age deterioration repairs and traffic delays.

The cost of blades is minimal compared to the cost of pavement.