melting moments
Posted: Friday, 15 June 2007 |
Comments
Tar melting that badly, in Coll? Somebody did not do the job right. The tar roads in the tropics that I am familiar with never did melt: sure, it softened up a little bit, but melt?
mjc from NM,USA
I'm originally from the North West Highlands, and yes, the tar melted there as well. In the heat of S.E. England I have never seen it happen. So, is the weather hotter in NW Scotland, or is the tar poorer quality?
Seoras from East Grinstead
The Coll roadmen got their tar and choc icing recipes in a fankle....who found tar on top of their chocolate cake?
Flying Cat from Cheshire Grin
Sounds like a slurry seal. They spray a thick oil/thin tar on the surface, and then cover that with coarse sand. They use it here to seal the road surface so that water doesn't get into the cracks and cause the road surface to deteriorate.
CVBruce from CA, USA
I was on Arran some years ago now when it was 104 in the shade! the tar on the roads melted and so did the tyres on some of the cars parked there, I dinnae ken how they sorted that one oot! Wouldnae have been so bad but I
Hermit from Sanday
...wouldnae have been so bad but I
Hermit from Hit the button for I`d finished, doh!
(i keep hitting the wrong button, please excuse me, arthritic fingers, giving up and going away now, lol...)
Hermit from Anne, Help!
Slurry seal - a very careless animal who got downwind of a farmer fertilising his fields....
Flying Cat from Cheshire Grin
Yes tar melts on the roads. I remember it well from my childhood in the NW of England, also from holidays in Hampshire so SE England must have a special mix. It's not slurry seal, I'm well acquaint with that we use it on runways (and no it doesn't melt in the heat) Time was when the tar was actualyy coal tar from the gas works there was a mistaken belief that the fumes were good for the chest and asthmatic kids were encouraged to follow the road menders, sniffing deeply to gain the benefit of the fumes.
Hyper-Borean from Sniffing the tar boiler
104 in the shade, Hermit. Even the tires melted? How did the ice cream hold up, that's what I would like to know. Anyway, Hermit old pal, did anybody's heart melt as well?
mjc from NM,USA
CVBruce: slurry seal, eh? Now you know, Nic from Coll. Have no fear: if the tar melts, it's looking for cracks to fill. Throw some sand on it and, voila, another international standards airport runway.
mjc from NM,USA
Hyper-B: sniffing - you must be kidding?! Where was that? # I never saw road tar melt, but perhaps they used high quality stuff in Her Majesty's tropical colony?! Of course, some folks may consider somewhat softened tar as melted tar.
mjc from NM,USA
OK mjc somewhat softened tar, the stuff used on uk roads used to soften enough to trickle, albeit viscously, down the camber of the road. as kids we used to take great pleasure in gathering it up on sticks and making balls of it. This invariably resulted in chastisement for, "Ruining your clothes." I suppose the air temperature would be way below even the softening point of the tar but being black and in direct sun it would absorb the heat, remember your physics class.
Hyper-Borean from The tarry biler
Physics, Hyper-B.? What next?!!Remember only the good things, says the Prophet! (and no, not Kahlil) # But, talking about Kahlil, how about this, Hermit (though it be rather far from melting tar and tires etc): "The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends with you His might that His arrows might go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable." Of course, Kahlil was talking about raising children, not archery prowess, but I thought you would like the reference to bow and arrows.
mjc from NM,USA
I like "Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness". Nice.
Flying Cat from an admiring glance
I'm with old Omar mjc: " Ah, fill the cup:- what boots it to repeat/ How time is slipping underneath our feet: / Unborn tomorrow, and deaad yesterday,/ Why fret about them if today be sweet! // One moment in Annihilation's Waste,/ One moment, of the well of life to taste-/ The Stars are setting and the caravan/ Starts for the Dawn of Nothing- Oh make haste!"
Hyper-Borean from The Potter's Shop
Next thing you know, we'll all be whirling to the sounds of Sufi music...
mjc from NM,USA
Dervish!
Hyper-Borean from The Tentmaker's
Quite, quite, Hyper-B. Of course, our fundamentalist cousins from waaaay yonder (thank heavens) would have written "dervilish" - methinks. Takes all kinds of crackpots to make a world.
mjc from NM,USA
Sure thing mjc and as ma man said, "None answer'd this; but after Silence spake/ A Vessel of a more ungainly make:/ They sneer t me for leaning all awry;/ What! did the hand then of the Potter shake?" Let you be in my dream mjc if I can be in yours.
Hyper-Borean from Still in the tent
We were on Coll on our bikes on 6th / 7th June & the "tar" was melting then as well - sometimes difficult to avoid, even on bicycles. Truth is, it's no longer "tar" ( a coal by-product ), but "bitumen" ( an oil by-product ). This is made in varying grades of viscosity ( runniness ) and on the mainland will generally be quite hard and heat-resistant. But for the bitumen ( mixed with stones etc. for roadbuilding) to remain in a soft enough condition to survive the trip from the quarry to Coll without setting like concrete before it's used, it has to be quite soft in the first place. Sadly, it will always be prone to melting in hot weather, where the black stuff on the mainland will remain solid at higher temperatures. P.S. We loved your beautiful island & will be back.
Angus from Durham
Angus, I doff my hat to you and Hyper-B. As you well knew, NiconColl, tar does melt on your island even if it does not in places like Mauritius, and now we all aware of the reasons. I stand contrite for being (once again) a doubting Thomas. Have a good weekend, y'all.
mjc from NM,USA
I grew upon Coll and always remember the tar bubbling in hot weather,there was always big patches round the 3 corner field,i used to pop the bubbles with my finger. Should we not just be thankful of the hot weather in Scotland.
Kendo from Troon
Good grief, Angus, the tar bubbles. You did not tell us that. Volcanic tar ... And Kendo used to pop the bubbles with his finger, one for each year, and he stopped counting when he hit 21 ... Amazing Coll.
mjc from NM, USA
Ha that was a funny blogg!
xxx from NYC
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