Curious About Roads

PODCAST 127: CURIOUS ABOUT ROADS
RELEASE DATE:  MARCH 7TH, 2021

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  THIS WEEK, WE ARE GETTING CURIOUS FOR A LISTENER IN THE BEAUTIFUL STATE OF ARIZONA FOR THE FIRST TIME.

O:  MAILBAG!

D:  MAILBAG!

“HELLO OLIVIA AND JACOB, MY NAME IS GIDEON.  ME AND MY DAD LOVE LISTENING TO YOUR PODCAST.  I HAVE TWO THINGS I’M CURIOUS ABOUT.  THE FIRST IS HOW LEAVES GROW ON TREES, THE SECOND IS HOW ROADS ARE MADE.”

O:  THANKS FOR THE E-MAIL.  WE ARE GETTING CURIOUS ABOUT ROADS THIS WEEK FOR GIDEON.

D:  AND IT’S GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN.  AND, IF YOU LIKE THIS EPISODE, YOU ARE DEFINITELY GOING TO WANT TO GIVE A LISTEN TO EPISODE 118 ON ROAD SIGNS THAT WE RELEASED BACK IN JANUARY.  WHAT’S THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK?

O:  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, WHAT IS THE MOST COMMON STREET NAME IN THE UNITED STATES?

D:  THERE ARE 10,866 STREETS IN THE UNITED STATES WITH THE MOST POPULAR STREET NAME.  DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT THAT STREET NAME IS?  WHILE YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT THE ANSWER, LET’S LEARN HOW ROADS ARE MADE.

O:  MAKING A ROAD IS HARD WORK AND LOTS OF PEOPLE NEED TO BE INVOLVED.

D:  AND, THE FIRST STEP IN ALL THAT HARD WORK IS PLANNING.  IN THE PLANNING STAGE, EXPERTS LIKE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AND ENGINEERS HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT TYPE OF ROAD IS NEEDED AND WHAT THAT ROAD SHOULD BE MADE OF.  THERE ARE LOTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROADS THAT ARE MADE IN DIFFERENT WAYS.  

O:  THE PLANNING STAGE ITSELF CAN LAST MONTHS OR EVEN YEARS.

D:  ISN’T THAT CRAZY?  IT CAN TAKE YEARS TO MAKE THE PLAN FOR A NEW ROAD, AND THAT DOESN’T INCLUDE ANY OF THE ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION.

O:  DURING THE PLANNING STAGE, PUBLIC MEETINGS WILL BE HELD FOR PEOPLE TO GIVE THEIR OPINIONS ON THE NEW ROAD.

D:  SOMETIMES, PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THE TOWN WHERE THE NEW ROAD IS BEING PLANNED WILL HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE NEW ROAD THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED.  FOR EXAMPLE, PEOPLE MIGHT THINK THAT THE NEW ROAD WOULD BE DANGEROUS AND THAT SAFETY CONCERNS NEED TO BE ADDRESSED.  

O:  ONCE ALL THE PLANNING IS COMPLETE, CONSTRUCTION CAN FINALLY BEGIN.

D:  AND, DEPENDING ON HOW COMPLEX THE ROAD WILL BE, THE CONSTRUCTION CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM JUST A FEW DAYS OR WEEKS TO SEVERAL YEARS.           

O:  THE FIRST STEP IN THE ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT… MAKING A STRONG FOUNDATION.

D:  HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO BUILD A TOWER FROM SOMETHING LIKE BLOCKS?  IF YOU HAVE, YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT THE BLOCKS ON THE BOTTOM ARE SET UP PERFECTLY SO THAT THE WHOLE TOWER WILL BE MORE STABLE.  WELL, THE SAME CONCEPT APPLIES TO ROADS.  THE FOUNDATION OF EACH ROAD HAS TO BE SUPER-STRONG SO THAT IT LASTS FOR A LONG TIME.

O:  THIS PART OF THE PROJECT IS CALLED EARTHWORK.  
D:  IT HAS THAT NAME BECAUSE CONSTRUCTION TRUCKS ARE ACTUALLY DIGGING INTO THE EARTH TO CREATE A STRONG AND LEVEL SURFACE FOR THE ROAD.  
              
O:  THE TYPES OF TRUCKS INVOLVED IN EARTHWORK INCLUDE DIGGERS AND BULLDOZERS.  

D:  DUMP TRUCKS ARE ALSO USED TO BRING IN DIRT, GRAVEL AND SAND.  ONCE THOSE THINGS ARE DUMPED, A ROLLER TRUCK WILL ROLL OVER THEM TO MAKE SURE THE SURFACE IS SMOOTH, STRONG, AND LEVEL.   

O:  DRAINS WILL ALSO BE BUILT TO MOVE RAINWATER OFF OF THE ROAD SURFACE.

D:  THAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT.  DRIVING ON A WET OR FLOODED ROAD COULD BE DANGEROUS.  DRAINS HELP MAKE SURE THE ROADS ARE SAFE FOR DRIVING, EVEN IN THE RAIN.  

O:  AFTER THE FOUNDATION IS NICE AND STRONG, IT’S TIME TO PAVE THE ROAD.

D:  THEY DO THIS USING PAVEMENT, WHICH USUALLY COMES IN THE FORM OF ASPHALT, CONCRETE, OR TARMAC.  THEY ADD THE LIQUID PAVEMENT ON TOP OF THE FOUNDATION UNTIL IT HARDENS INTO A SMOOTH AND STURDY ROAD.      

O:  FINALLY, WORKERS MAKE CUTS IN THE ROAD. 

D:  THIS MIGHT SEEM LIKE A STRANGE STEP, BUT IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT.  LIKE MANY OTHER THINGS, ROADS EXPAND AND CONTRACT IN EXTREME TEMPERATURES.  TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, THE MATERIALS IN THE ROAD WILL EXPAND, OR GET SLIGHTLY LARGER, WHEN IT’S VERY HOT OUTSIDE.  THE SAME MATERIALS WILL CONTRACT, OR GET SLIGHTLY SMALLER, WHEN IT IS VERY COLD OUTSIDE.  BY MAKING THE CUTS IN THE ROAD, IT ALLOWS THE ROAD TO EXPAND AND CONTRACT WITHOUT CRACKING OR BREAKING THE ROAD.  
ALRIGHT OLIVIA, WE WERE ABLE TO UNEARTH SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT STREETS.  WHAT HAVE YOU GOT FOR ME?

O:  MCKINLEY STREET IS THE SHORTEST STREET IN THE WORLD.

D:  MCKINLEY STREET IS ONLY 30 FEET LONG.  YOU CAN FIND MCKINLEY STREET IN THE TOWN OF BELLEFONTAINE, OHIO.  THAT’S A LONG TOWN NAME FOR SUCH A SHORT STREET.  MCKINLEY STREET WAS NAMED AFTER THE 25TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WILLIAM MCKINLEY, WHO WAS BORN IN OHIO.  

O:  THERE IS A STREET IN THE UNITED KINGDOM THAT IS ONLY 17 FEET LONG CALLED ELGIN STREET.

D:  SO, THIS WHOLE THING HAS CAUSED A BIT OF AN ARGUMENT OVER WHICH STREET IS TRULY THE SHORTEST.  SO, OBVIOUSLY 17 FEET IS SHORTER THAN 30 FEET.  THERE IS ONLY ONE PROBLEM THOUGH.  ELGIN STREET IS NOT OPEN TO MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC, WHICH MEANS YOU CAN’T ACTUALLY DRIVE ON IT.  THAT’S WHY MANY OF THE LOCALS IN BELLEFONTAINE, OHIO DON’T THINK IT COUNTS.  IF YOU CAN’T DRIVE ON A STREET, CAN IT STILL BE CONSIDERED THE SHORTEST STREET IN THE WORLD?  IT’S AN INTERESTING QUESTION.  ALRIGHT, SPEAKING OF QUESTIONS, LET’S GET TO THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK?  WHAT IS THE MOST COMMON STREET NAME IN THE UNITED STATES?  

O:  THE MOST COMMON STREET NAME IN THE UNITED STATES IS SECOND STREET.  HANG ON A SECOND, WHAT HAPPENED TO FIRST STREET?

D:  ISN’T IT AMAZING WHEN THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK LEADS TO ANOTHER INTERESTING QUESTION.  HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE THAT SECOND STREET IS THE MOST POPULAR STREET NAME.  DOESN’T THERE HAVE TO BE A FIRST STREET WHEREVER THERE IS A SECOND STREET?

O:  NOT NECESSARILY.  A LOT OF TOWNS NAMED THEIR FIRST STREET’S MAIN STREET INSTEAD OF FIRST STREET.
D:  THAT’S INTERESTING.  THAT’S THE REASON WHY SECOND STREET IS THE MOST POPULAR STREET NAME IN THE U.S. AND THIRD STREET IS THE SECOND MOST POPULAR STREET NAME IN THE U.S.  

O:  HAVE WE CONFUSED YOU YET?  I’M SORRY IF WE HAVE.

D:  IT’S A BIT CONFUSING, BUT DEFINITELY MORE INTERESTING THAN IT IS CONFUSING.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

O:  127 - ROADS.

D:  GREAT JOB, OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB TO GIDEON FOR THE FUN TOPIC SUGGESTION.  BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE, I WANTED TO READ AN E-MAIL WE RECENTLY RECEIVED THAT MEANT SO MUCH TO US.

IT SAYS “GOOD MORNING!  I’M A MOM WITH A SON ON THE SPECTRUM.  HE’S 6 AND MY OTHER SON, HIS BROTHER, IS 5.  WE RECENTLY DISCOVERED YOUR PODCAST AND MY SONS LOVE IT!  WE NOW LISTEN TO IT IN THE CAR ALL THE TIME.  MY 6 YEAR OLD HAS ASPERGER’S AND HE REALLY ENJOYS LEARNING ABOUT ALL THE THINGS YOU AND OLIVIA CREATE FOR YOUR PODCAST.  MY FAVORITE PART IS THAT YOU REMIND ME OF HOW WE PROBABLY GREW UP.  NO TVS OR TABLETS:  JUST LISTENING DURING A DRIVE.  YOU GUYS HAVE GIVEN ME SOMETHING BETTER TO LISTEN TO THAN POWER RANGERS.  THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO!”

O:  YOU ARE SO WELCOME.  THE POWER RANGERS PROBABLY WON’T TEACH YOU HOW ROADS ARE MADE.

D:  PROBABLY NOT.  THAT E-MAIL MEANT SO MUCH.  FOR ANY OF YOU OUT THERE THAT LOVE THE PODCAST AND ARE LOOKING FOR A SMALL THING YOU CAN DO TO HELP SUPPORT US, PLEASE LET YOUR FRIENDS KNOW ABOUT CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  YOU CAN ALSO REALLY HELP US BY LEAVING A REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS.  DOING SMALL THINGS LIKE TELLING YOUR FRIENDS AND LEAVING US A REVIEW CAN HELP US SO MUCH AND MAKE SURE THAT CURIOUS KID PODCAST STICKS AROUND FOR A LONG TIME.  NEXT WEEK, WE WILL GET CUROUS ABOUT CATS FOR LISTENERS IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON AND OJAI, CALIFORNIA.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.