Russian Highway

[UEL]

http://www.saveandconserve.com/2007/...hway_life.html

These photos got sent to me at work in a powerpoint slideshow. I don't know if they are from Russia, but this link claims they are.

I've searched here, but to no avail for information.

[Floater]

They looked very Russian anyway. Probably from someplace North, judging by the nature.

[Jay Tea]

Probably cleared for a highway then abandoned, perhaps a construction company went bust or pulled out due to lack of funds coming in?

Either way, if the cleared strip was used as a road when it was dry, many people might have taken advantage of the new artery, only to be left bogged down when it rained...

Did you notice in the last picture, the two cars sunk so far into the muck that only their rear ends show? That made it for me...

[Beachlife!]

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

Did you notice in the last picture, the two cars sunk so far into the muck that only their rear ends show? That made it for me...

Yes, though I don't think that particular picture goes with the others. It's not on the road anymore, and the flora looks entirely different.

[Horse Chestnut]

Pure speculation here: I wonder if this has something to do with global warming? Perhaps a road that normally crosses over permafrost is now softening up due to climate change?

[Joostik]

From personal experience* I'd say not that unusual at all. There may indeed be some construction going on, but that has never stopped any Russian from driving.

That last picture looks like a sinkhole, possibly due to thawing. It was clearly made at a different time of year.

(*not quite that bad but still...)

[Hans Off]

I love the last picture and was wondering how the second or indeed third car could have got there!!! Weren't the first two a clue?

but Joostick resued my brain from trying to work it out!

[Sebbenth]

Most likely, this is indeed Russia (car models, numbers, road signs etc), and, yes, there are roads as bad as this one, but I can't imagine a single road this bad with such a heavy traffic of unsuitable cars. Judging by the fact that the traffic seems to be mostly one-way and there is a substantial number of plows and trailer trucks I won't be surprised if this picture has been taken during some kind of emergency, like flood.

[Hero_Mike]

Picture 3 shows a "standard" European road sign. I'm not 100% sure if Soviet Russia used this standard, but I doubt that they did.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

If I'm remembering my geography right, Northern Russia is mosty bog land. This is also why Russia build some of best and biggest heavy lift helicopters in the world.

I the US and Canada we deal travel to the far North by doing it during the winter so we do not have these problems.

It is my understanding that it is immposible the build reliable road in these contitions in the North, or at least very cost prohibitive.

[DarkDan]

This is Russian Federal highway Moscow city - Yakutsk City, named “Lena”, nowadays.
The road doesn’t have asfalt surface, though it is a Federal, vital highway.
Everytime it rains the road gets paralized, these shots are made a few days before the traffic jam for 600 cars got stuck there. Hunger and lack of the fuel followed, according to the witnesses. One woman gave a born to a child right in the public bus she was riding.
Construction team afraids to appear on site because during their previous visit it was beaten by people who stuck in the jam for a few days. People breaking the locks on the trucks, in a search of food and warm cloths.
Fuel, food, firearms and steel tow-line are the things that are needed most these days on this Federal highway.

Here is it

[Joostik]

Originally Posted by Hero_Mike

Picture 3 shows a "standard" European road sign. I'm not 100% sure if Soviet Russia used this standard, but I doubt that they did.

They do, generally speaking. Actually, AFAIK there isn't any official EU standard for road signs yet, so even within the European Union different member states have their own, often slightly different, standards. Poland, for example, uses a yellow background where most European countries would use a white background. The general design, however, is recognizable all over Europe (including Russia).

I received the same email a few months back. My wife at the time was Russian, saw the email, and confirmed there is no reason to disbelieve it. Many roads in Siberia are like that, and meant generally for trucking supplies in and out of remote areas. Tourists travel in the summer, and after rains, this is quite common. The road sign is used in Russia, the cars and even more noticeably, the trucks and vans, like the UAZ, are either Russian, or European vehicles commonly seen in Russia. Aside from that, we have roads like this in Canada, but we generally avoid them in the rain, because there is usually an alternative highway that may not be a shortcut, but is safer to drive on. In Russia, this may be a main highway that gets really sloppy in the rain.

[Sebbenth]

Originally Posted by DarkDan

Here is it

The link doesn't work

[Sebbenth]

These are apparently real photoes from the Moscow-Yakutsk road. Although it is classified as "federal importance", the status mostly means that there'll be enough military maps in case of war. The road is mostly operable in winter, and I've read about a rally team that claimed to drive all the way "for the first time in history" (FYI - Yakutsk is about 200k in population, and, roughly speaking, in the middle of nowhere). Yep, these are real.

FYI - although the signs are "standard", some of the details (mostly proporitions of the figures) are region-specific and well-distinguishable.

[Troberg]

They do, generally speaking. Actually, AFAIK there isn't any official EU standard for road signs yet, so even within the European Union different member states have their own, often slightly different, standards. Poland, for example, uses a yellow background where most European countries would use a white background. The general design, however, is recognizable all over Europe (including Russia).

Correct. There are gradual changes made to harmonize the traffic signs, but as they are pretty expensive to replace (around $1500 per sign) and requires changes to the laws, it takes time. They are similar enough to be easily recognizable, but they are different. It's also important to remember that the laws behind the signs are different in different countries, so the actual meaning of a sign might be slightly different.

Most of Scandinavia also use yellow backgrounds on the signs for improved visibility in the winter. White snow is more common than yellow...

White snow is more common than yellow...

Depends if you have a dog in your yard, or not.