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Posted by D. Sherman on Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 11:48:44 :
In Reply to: Re: Highway question posted by Vaughn on Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 11:22:39 :
Actually two things. First, they usually mix some sort of plastic with the asphalt to make it more flexible and last longer, but when the price got up to $400/ton last summer, a lot of government agencies couldn't afford the good stuff and bought the unimproved kind which will fall apart sooner. Second, when the price of oil jumped, most of the refineries started adding equipment to convert most of the "waste" like asphalt into higher-valued fuel products. That means that once all that equipment comes on line, there will be a permanent shortage of asphalt so the price of it is not going to come down like it is with other petroleum products.
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