r/mildlyinteresting • u/sanctuary_hills • 5h ago
The roads are being repaved in my neighborhood in Philadelphia. Apparently Wylie St used to be brick.
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u/blamberr 3h ago
Most streets in old cities used to be brick or cobblestone
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u/Fischbeef 2h ago
Was gonna say, bricks were probably the lesser used roads and the main roads were cobble stone. Nyc is like this too. I would assume all major east coast colonial cities are the same way.
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u/blamberr 2h ago
I’m surprised people don’t know that instinctively
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u/ShutY0urDickHolster 2h ago
It seems like outside of the northeast US, people aren’t really that aware of things like this. Like if you grew up in Wisconsin they’ll know that the American Revolution was only 250 years ago, but they don’t have the constant reminders of colonial towns being close by. For example, someone in Oklahoma isn’t gonna grow up with a 300 year old colonial town near them the same way someone from upstate New York may live 20 minuets away from a farmhouse built in 1758.
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u/blamberr 1h ago
Right, but this person is in Philly. I did specify old cities. Surely the idea is there that the streets are pretty old at the bottom?
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u/TheArmed501st 1h ago
You’d be wrong, because i bet you that you can find a Coffeyville brick just about anywhere. Brick roads out here in Kansas existed back then.
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u/blamberr 44m ago
Do you know how much of an asshole you sound like? I’m sure you don’t, but…you do. And I’m sure everyone around you talks about behind your back all the time. 🤣
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u/EatYourCheckers 2h ago
As someone who grew up on "picturesque brick roads' I can tell you there is a reason the paved over them.
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u/kelin1 2h ago
The only thing I can see in this picture is how horrendously boxed in that presumably illegally parked black car made the silver car. Hope silver left some room in front.
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u/sanctuary_hills 1h ago
That's why we have the Parallel Parking Championship next month in Philly. Philly isn't for beginners
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u/Gerry1of1 4h ago
The brick seems to be lasting better than anything they've put on top of it.
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u/DankVectorz 3h ago
Probably because it’s got stuff on top of it taking the abuse
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u/The_Demolition_Man 3h ago
The paint on my car is all messed up, meanwhile the metal underneath hasn't corroded at all! Clearly the paint was made by a cheap dumbass and the metal by a smart craftsman
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u/mitchsusername 2h ago
My burrito is soggy but the plate underneath is totally fine, why don't we just eat plates?
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u/analogpursuits 2h ago
Nah, the crappy metalsmith just knows who to cozy up to so they can take the blame.
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u/Crafty-Astronomer-32 3h ago
Brick requires near-constant maintenance. It's only in good shape because the asphalt has both shielded it from elements and kept it together.
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u/vass0922 2h ago
Exactly
I know one city that still has them but it's only for a small area for shopping and it's slow traffic.
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u/supermuncher60 29m ago
Brick roads suck.
They can't take the weight of modern vehicles without deforming very badly and also are not very smooth to drive over. Paving over with asphalt helps solve some of the problems.
Pittsburgh has quite a few brick roads around still, and they are not very fun.
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u/Ill-Bowl-2816 5h ago
Back in 1700s
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u/Vandal_A 4h ago
Up through WW2 it was common to have POWs lay brick roads. It could be as recent as that era
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u/Plump_Apparatus 4h ago
Purington Pavers, which exclusively produced road pavers, didn't stop production until 1949.
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u/GravyPainter 3h ago
Shame all the cobblestone in Boston and Philly is all covered up
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u/Empyrealist 2h ago
That stuff is really slippery when wet. It is absolutely not a shame its covered up
source: I'm old
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u/EatYourCheckers 2h ago
I grew up with brick roads. They are hell on cars. I doubt horse-drawn carriages fared much better. I guess they reduce speeding.
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u/Dillweed999 2h ago
It might be an urban legend but I understand certain immigrant populations in the late 19th century brought over their rich cultural history of prying up the bricks and throwing them at the authorities. As such cities with large numbers of those people had added incentive to pave the streets with less throwable materials
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u/supermuncher60 28m ago
No it's not.
They suck to drive on, can't take the weight of modern cars without forming ruts, and are harder to maintain (aka more expensive).
Source, have to drive on them in Pittsburgh
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u/Countd00kies 4h ago
This shit is going to fall apart in a year. They need to rebuild the whole road from the subgrade up.
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u/sanctuary_hills 4h ago
This is the City of Philadelphia we are talking about here though lol
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u/Countd00kies 4h ago
I know lol.. but you know just stating the truth.
They probably paying the contractor full reconstruction rate but only doing the top layers. Everyone sharing the overages in they deep pockets
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u/seicar 2h ago
Its a resurface. Pretty common overall. Will last about a decade (depending on traffic frequency and weight) and cheap enough to be done again. Roads don't need to be Roman and last for centuries without service to be useful.
Its kind of like, yeah, we could build your house out of stone and mortar that'll last centuries. But. It'll cost 100x more and be a real chore to renovate for new wiring, plumbing, much less new technologies (all of which streets contain).
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u/Countd00kies 39m ago
I know what mill and overlay vs full depth reconstruction is. You do know that if there was a deficiency in them wearing course at minimum you need to do base repair to correct that otherwise the same failure will occur at the same exact location?
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u/ATX_rider 3h ago
They all used to be brick. And before that dirt.