Photo by Emad Salameh, March 20th, 2008Rainbow "abu Baker Al-sedeak" street facing new Make over after announcing it's completion by GAM. Same old Jordanian thing, building then digging, then building again. They forgot something, and it looks that It was the Pedestrian walkway. I thought the whole street was made for the pedestrians to walk. Obviously, they discovered now that "the pedestrians" can't walk or even pass the street. The students at Arwa Bint Al-Harith school and Bishops School faced problems walking on the pumped rough stones. So the stone were replaced by concrete, but only at cross paths. Not sure though whats the real cause of removing the stones after being built, but thats what it looks like and the construction cost was 2,000,000 JD!
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5 comments:
Can anyone explain to my simple mind WHY do we need to go back to Roman era paved streets when we have clearly advanced and can make better streets of better materials that doesn't ruin people's tires and doesn't affect the pedestrians?!
Are they going to open the street only for horses and carriages from now on or regular cars with rubber tires that are disintegrating from the rough slippery bricks!? Not to mention the vibrations and noise!
What exactly is the use? I mean, there are many European allies that are paved like that, but that's only because they have been like this since before WWI and they didn't change a thing. So they're "stuck" with them. Why do we need to get ourselves stuck like that?!
I'm just wondering if there is a single benefit to this whole thing.
I quite like the idea of paving streets like rainbow because it forces cars to slow down and so encourages pedestrians. What I don't understand though is why they used such tiny paving stones which would take ages to put in, and its not like they contain any geometric design or anything, so they could have speeded up the process and probably saved some money by using bigger stones which would also no be as annoying to car drivers. I also wish they pay more attention to planting trees on the sides, but I guess its a good start overall and they are learning from their mistakes at least.
You can say by looking at the streets of any city, and here Amman, you will see a reflection of the Society. What ever is been cooked, whatever the attempt were in Rainbow or anywhere you will find the results on the ground.
We are now in 2008 and our nation can't produce a well designed street even they spent 2,000,000 JD to build. On the other hand, we are building skyscapers! or someone else.
Qwaider ... imagine after some years you will find it impossible drivingin Rainbow because by time the stone will be smoother than now and the cars will even find it more difficult to drive.
Onzlo... How many mistakes do we need to make and for how long?
We need to change attitudes more than stones, you don't accomodate for a problem, you fix it.
Instead of putting some stones just to make cars move slower, why don't you spend the money in drivers awareness campaigns?
I really like the way your blog focuses on some of the serious issues around the streets of Amman
Another interesting factoid about Rainbow street is that cars are usually jammed there bumper to bumper. There's no way anyone can drive fast in it. Unless it's 3 AM and there's no one there.
All the streets in Amman share the same problem. They are not BUILT, they are sprayed. Which means they will give way and collapse. The irregularities I've seen are the worst I've seen anywhere in the world. Unlike Canada for example where I can see the curvature of the earth from the street and see absolutely not a single ding in it
Anyway, when are we going to start building the streets with a layer of concrete first and then the asphalt. The Autobahn has a layer that is 36" deep of concrete. The American highways are only 12" why can't the Jordanian streets have a 12" layer of concrete below it instead of the crude white clunker they dump spread and spray
Sorry for the long comment.
Qwaider
Thanks for your compliment to Amman Voice blog, hopefully I can maintain it to reach it's goal.
The streets of Amman use the wrong mixture of materials, usually because the contractor cheating. The main problem is using the Aggregate which is smooth and not rough, causing the mixture not to bond and after some years the street become sliperry which cause accidents.
Another problem is the pedestrian pavement. Not only they use the wrong tile, they use different shapes and materials. Instead of using tiles, interlocking or else. They should use concrete slabs pored on site as you can see in all the US and other countries. it's much cheaper, durable and most important it gives a coherent identity to the city, a BRAND. We need to be consistence in what we build in order to give ourselves some sort of identity.
I am calling here for: Branding Amman
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