Russians Off-Road on their federal highways

Not too many brains there !

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

The thing that gets me, is that Russia is a rich nation in natural resources, perhaps as rich as the United States, and certainly richer than many First and Second World nations. And that is all they could come up with for a main highway?

Saludos,

Earle

The broken English in the text makes it sound like it's near Moscow, but I seriously doubt it. Yakutsk is a city in eastern Siberia, where the ground is probably frozen most of the year and firm to drive on, notice those pics are from the end of August, when the tundra thaws and creates a giant muddy mess. Paving that particular road would be a huge undertaking because of the freeze-thaw upheaval, you would have to take out a lot of underground permafrost. Kind of the reason why Alaska has few paved roads.

Also, sure Russia has a plethora of natural resources but they are still reeling from Soviet inefficiency....

Here are some more....including pix of downtown Moscow

That last one is hilarious. Ever try to drive in Mexico? Or Rome?

Hey, I though I noticed, one of those cars in the waterhole was the "death by Liberty" Jeep!

Amazing. Their roads are almost as bad as they are here in Kalifornia.

For the record, the babe in the blue jumpsuit is hot.

I must ask, as bad as it is, why no Jeeps in the mix?

The Jeeps didn't get stuck, they were designed with the commies are the most likely enemy.

There are Russian four wheel drive vehicles, but they save those for the really bad stuff. ;^)

Earle

Huh... funny.. I seem to recall the roads in Alaska being paved when I lived there 20 odd years ago... ? Unless of course you're talking about the side roads, then they would have been comprable to here in Tennessee.

Kate

I'd have to agree with Kate. I too lived up in Alaska some 20 years ago! We drove from Anchorage to the lower 48l, and the only dirt/gravel road we hit was a 80 mile stretch in Canada. I believe that stretch of the ALCAN is now paved. The main reason there's probably few roads in Alaska is economics, and land rights. Why build a road from Nome to Fairbanks? The cost could be easily paid for with oil royalties, but it would require maintenance in the summer months (perpetual daylight is good), but the logistics of clearing snow/ice for so few vehicles, it's not worth it. And would native tribes even allow the road to pass through their lands? A tunnel could easily be carved out so that one could drive to Juneau. Problem is you would be going into Canada to link with a main highway. Would Canada allow it? Would you want to drive through several miles of tunnel in an area that is prone to earthquakes on a daily basis? Is there such a thing as a earthquake proof tunnel? Driving into Juneau would put a hurt on air and sea traffic, which Alaska depends heavily on. Plus I don't think Juneau could handle the large volumes of motor homes/coaches that migrate up to Alaska every year! If you ever pass through Anchorage, check out Merrill Field. I believe it's the busiest small/private plane airport in the world. Air is the primary mode of travel in Alaska, and it will be for many years to come!

Of course in the more densly populated areas they would be paved, get on the north side in August and you'll have a lovely mudfest...

I think this is a brand new road, where there was no road before. It was not possible to drive to siberia until this road started being pushed thru.

The Lada's are gone way past the traffic jams. The little Lada 4x4 will out do a Merc Gelandewagon, I've heard.

In 2006, they can't do as well as the AlCan highway was in 1946. Even though this may be an exceptional event, it's still pretty bad.

It does look like new construction, doesn't it. The brush on the sides of the road looks to be only a year or two old, and the roadbed is newly built up above the existing grade.

-- "I defer to your plainly more vivid memories of topless women with whips....r" R. H. Draney recalls AFU in the Good Old Days.