http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JG17Ak01.htmlHigh temperatures, bright sunshine and clear skies spell happiness for tourists but a nightmare for those who work in Turkey's public transportation. Last week, the crew of an Atlas Jet flight from Siirt to Istanbul and booked with 70 passengers and their luggage learned that the departing runway had reached melting point.
The outside temperature of 40 degrees Celsius meant that the pilot's only option for a safe takeoff was to take half the passengers off. All 70 were weighed and then 34 of the passenger were allowed to board, but they had to agree to leave their luggage behind. At a total weight of only 2,380 kilograms, the average svelte passenger that made it to Istanbul that day weighed only 68kg.
The same problem is affecting roads all over the country. In the past month there have been three reports of roads melting. On June 16, reports came in of the highway between the large western cities of Aydin and Izmir melting when the temperature again reached 40 degrees.
Emergency teams had to be called in to pour sand and gravel on the liquefied areas and drivers were forced to abide by strict speed restrictions. In southeast Turkey, on the road between Viransehir and Ceylanpinar in Sanliurfa province, on June 28 the heat made the road so sticky that those that tried to walk on it found their shoes stuck to the tar.
The residents of Kinik village were once very happy to be part of the government's Koydes project - which invests in improving fresh water availability and roads in rural areas - but less happy at the beginning of this month when their new road melted. As the melted avenue is also the main street that runs through the center of the village, residents must roll up their pant legs and walk across it. Wealthier countries that encounter extreme temperatures like Saudi Arabia make their roads from concrete to avoid the problem of melting.
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any of our roads melting? yet.