Originally Posted by
Bengo
There is tarmac, and there is tarmac. They all broadly consist of selected stones stuck together with a binding agent. There are lots of different recipes for the binder.
You select your brew according to the conditions you expect it to mostly work in. For particularly sunny weather the insolation will make the tarmac hot, damn hot, so, in, say , DXB you need a brew that stays firm when hot. It probably won't cool down too much overnight.
In the UK it is not commonly hot and sunny very often, so you need a brew that is still flexible enough when cool to cold and is resistant to lots of rain. It will not be as durable if it gets hot.
N
Sound logic, although one must question why
all runways in the UK do not seem to be similarly affected. Perhaps cost is also a factor in the brew?