Libya & Paving the Roads

We came back from the short vacation (sometimes I thank god for Gs fuckwit company and their notoriously incompetent visa personnel) and this is what we saw.




Needles to say, car is on the wrong side of that half a meter drop...

Apparently, while we were gone someone decided it is finally time to repave our street. The work like this has been happening for a while in our neighborhood. It goes something like this.

Machines come, and many many people come. They stand around for a day or so, drink tea and generally yell at each other. One of them puts up tape on both street ends to cordon the road off. Sometimes they have those silly little plastic traffic cones to put up as well. Neighborhood crowd gathers to see what is happening, people stop their cars to gawk at all that tape and machinery. If it is busy street cars will pile up, general confusion descends and all drivers want to come closer to see all the action. Soon traffic jam starts and before half an hour has passed all the workers stopped drinking tea to yell at drivers and direct traffic. On a good day cars get in such a gridlock that it can take up to an hour to clear it. Of course by that time emotions are high, every driver thinks that he is The One who has right of priority and actual "slap" fights can happen which then in turn only prolong the event.

After a few days of that, someone realizes that machine for lifting old tarmac (or what is left of it) is necessary. Few days passes (these machines are busy, many roads in Tripoli to destroy) and machine shows up. They enthusiastically proceed to destroy old tarmac. Another machine is summoned, this time to push tarmac pieces to one end of the road. Houses are vibrating, chandeliers are swinging, glasses are jumping around in the houses but Neighborhood crowd is happy - finally something is happening.

Next day starts sunny and warm. And quiet. Tape and traffic cones are still in place, but all the machinery and manpower is gone. And so is next day, and the one after that. After a while, one poor guy decides he can not take any more of lugging shopping bags from the other street (where he parks his car now) to his house with complaining wife in tow . He tears the tape, moves the traffic cones and happily drives his car all the way to his house. In no time all the neighbors are happily bouncing up and down over piled up tarmac in now sand road, lifting all the sand in the air.

Few weeks later, tarmac piles melted in the heat and under the cars and now the road is just very bumpy, but in a smooth way. You can no longer hear so often that crunching sound when exhaust pipe (or something worse) hits the tarmac piece.

A month or so later, machinery comes again. Cones and tape are put up again. Trucks come and are loaded with the old tarmac. Sewer pipes are laid and sand is smoothed again.
Road roller comes and starts flattening the sand road. Everything vibrates again but by the end of work day the road is getting flat. During the evening someone breaks the tape again and drives his car to his house. Others follow. Soon the road is ruined again.

Next day machine has to flatten it again. After a week or so it is sufficiently flat and asphalt paving machine is brought in. It sprays that black gooey smelly stuff as a primer and leaves. Now the road is wet, smelly and I can only imagine how it is to be in a house next to it. Sidewalks are dug up but not fixed so people have to literally jump over overflowing trash cans that are on the sidewalk (garbage men probably can not enter road for weeks) into potholes filled with broken tiles.

Few days later, real tarmac laying machine comes. On the course of next few days one layer of tarmac is put, rectangular pieces are cut out and sewer covers are put in. And then all goes quiet again.

Now the road has metal sewer/water covers sticking out 5-10 cm above the tarmac level. But the tarmac is new and black and drivers can not resist. Everyone is driving like a lunatic (more so than usual) and every now and then flat tire happens. Neighborhood crowd can still not park in their gardens since sidewalk and access slides are not done.

Few months later there is no change.

I am so looking forward to seeing this process first hand.