Waste of time road construction projects

[InterstateGuy]

This just kind of ticks me off. A few years ago there was contruction on I-80 in PA. This section of interstate was relatively new and had little to no cracks or signs of damage. They completely repaved a large section of the road and put an overlay over almost all of the concrete decked bridges. But on one of the overpasses now has big crack forming on the overlay. This type of construction just doesn't seem necessary for a relatively new stretch of highway.  https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0522852,-76.8665257,3a,15y,116.83h,64.97t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s3k5nDU8-Xx4ii7pb2JFsbA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D3k5nDU8-Xx4ii7pb2JFsbA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D17.185389%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

[cbeach40]

Without knowing the full details, can make the following suppositions based on the available evidence:

• From looking around and under the bridge on Google Streetview and Google Earth, it appears the surface asphalt was done as part of a full rehabilitation of the structure
• Typically application of asphalt to a concrete bridge deck is done to extend the lifespan and prevent water, salt, etc from penetrating further. How smooth the drive was pre-construction is less of a factor than preserving the structure itself
• It looks like the work was done circa 2014 and the pothole appears to have appeared in 2019. On heavy truck route like this one that's not unheard of