Originally Posted by
unterhausen
Those Belgian cobblestones were far better than getting stuck in the mud. I'm sure it was an upgrade from log roads (corduroy roads).
Fact.
And the reason many of them are still in existence today is a combination of heritage/tradition and being cheaper to maintain the cobbles than to lay an asphalt ribbon that will need to be rebuilt about every 4-5 years. For example, Moskestraat in the town of Overijse was rebuilt this winter (in anticipation of the 2021 Road Racing World Championships this September) in order to fix the stones that had "sunken" and to give in an "even" surface, by taking out each stone, fixing the bed and relaying them. The only costs to this work were some new sand/gravel for the bed and labor. I went up it on Monday, and it was a muddy/gritty mess in the rain, properly cobbled and a lot of gravel on the surface.