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Concrete, whether in a road or a building expands (gets longer) in hot weather and contracts (gets shorter) in cold weather.

So the builders install an expansion strip every so many feet to allow the concrete to make these small but significant changes in length. If this were not done, the concrete, when warm, would expand, and having nowhere to go, would go up (roads) or out (buildings), thus ruining the road or building.

These expansion joints are filled with pitch, tar, or mastic - they call it different things in different parts of the country - to keep out water. Water would freeze, and cause the same problems.

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Weldon Crona

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3y ago

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