Wentworth Ave - g-doonk ... g-doonk ... g-doonk

troll-sniffer said :

The strips were not expansion joints as is commonly believed. They were actually a clever device to aid the early motorist in speed monitoring, as early cars rarely had speedos and they mostly were unreliable, so the canny motorist could count the number of g-doonk-gdoonk gaps in 15 seconds, refer to the chart taped to their dashboard (where the speedo now sits) and make a crude but often accurate estimation of their speed.

😀

+1

It reminds me of ‘The Causeway’ in Townsville when I was a kid, so wouldn’t mind betting it is for the same reasons. The Causeway is / was, as the name implies, fairly low lying (runs next to mangroves). ‘Cos of tidal subsidence and stuff you couldn’t lay a ‘normal’ road as it would simply float up and down and crack to bits.

Answer . . . ‘the causeway’ was constructed by laying a series of ‘box culverts’ — a sort of inverted, long, flat-bottomed-U-shaped, pre-cast concrete doover — end to end (uprights of the “u” downwards into the ground) to create the road. The resulting ’causeway’ was then paved over. The ‘culverts’ would still rise and fall with seasonal tidal changes; the paving would form into ridges at the boxes junctions, and; you’d get the classic ‘g-doonk, g-doonk’ as you drove alone.

Dunno what the ground is actually like in them thar parts. I wonder if it was originally fairly ‘marshy’?

Sorry if I offended, the road is a concrete base with expansion strips…hence the g-dunk …I grew up on Canberra Ave and had the g-dunk, g-dunk send me to sleep every night

DarkLadyWolfMother said :

I always assumed it was to get people used to the sound of rails on tracks as they drove towards the train station.

I was told the same story as a child, except the other way, that after so long on a train, you didnt mind the g-doonk sound.

Solidarity said :

troll-sniffer said :

This was a little …

You’re not funny.

Cmon – that was pretty funny!

Jeez la mente torbida, you’re a negative piece of work. Just go and write something positive about something you ARE interested in. I’m interested to read the op and a couple of the replies. It’s true I think that this is the only old concrete road in the act, possibly because it was low-lying.

Presume it’s somehow the ACT Government’s fault: bloody Stanhope.

Oh, and get a life.

troll-sniffer said :

At each end of the section of road equipped with the g-doonk-gdoonk gaps system, there were extra wide gaps that made a g-dwonk-gthump sound, quite different to the g-doonk-gdoonk sound, and this was referred to as the point to point speed estimation system.

Ha! Thanks for a Wednesday chuckle. I tip my hat to you, sir.

la mente torbida said :

FFS get a life

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, I think the OP just got g-doonked!

la mente torbida said :

FFS get a life

Oh so noted – thankyou 🙂

I am intrigued by this thing you call ‘a life’ … you sound clever and cool – details?

troll-sniffer said :

This was a little known kow-tow to Walter Burley Griffin. In his homeland, the US, many of the roads were laid in concrete slabs separated by the g-doonk-gdoonk gaps, and it was felt that WBG would feel more at home and be more likely to stay and see out the project if he didn’t get homesick.

The strips were not expansion joints as is commonly believed. They were actually a clever device to aid the early motorist in speed monitoring, as early cars rarely had speedos and they mostly were unreliable, so the canny motorist could count the number of g-doonk-gdoonk gaps in 15 seconds, refer to the chart taped to their dashboard (where the speedo now sits) and make a crude but often accurate estimation of their speed.

At each end of the section of road equipped with the g-doonk-gdoonk gaps system, there were extra wide gaps that made a g-dwonk-gthump sound, quite different to the g-doonk-gdoonk sound, and this was referred to as the point to point speed estimation system.

You’re not funny.

I always assumed it was to get people used to the sound of rails on tracks as they drove towards the train station.

Onomatopoeia win.

This was a little known kow-tow to Walter Burley Griffin. In his homeland, the US, many of the roads were laid in concrete slabs separated by the g-doonk-gdoonk gaps, and it was felt that WBG would feel more at home and be more likely to stay and see out the project if he didn’t get homesick.

The strips were not expansion joints as is commonly believed. They were actually a clever device to aid the early motorist in speed monitoring, as early cars rarely had speedos and they mostly were unreliable, so the canny motorist could count the number of g-doonk-gdoonk gaps in 15 seconds, refer to the chart taped to their dashboard (where the speedo now sits) and make a crude but often accurate estimation of their speed.

At each end of the section of road equipped with the g-doonk-gdoonk gaps system, there were extra wide gaps that made a g-dwonk-gthump sound, quite different to the g-doonk-gdoonk sound, and this was referred to as the point to point speed estimation system.

I always assumed because it was laid over an old concrete road base, like you see in places in Sydney.

It’s concrete, not tar… Hence the sections.

Heritage listed as it was one of the very first paved roads laid down in this city.

to lay down some sick beats while you let loose with some dope free-stylin’ rhymes to impress your crew?

FFS get a life