How brick streets are laid in The Netherlands

Looks a lot easier on the lower back.

Brick paviours look lovely when they are newly laid. The trouble starts when the guys from one of the utilities turn up, and have to dig up the pavement to access their pipes. They almost never have the right tools and equipment to put it back properly – and never have a stock of matching bricks to replace the inevitable number they break. Often they just throw down some bitmac as a “temporary” fix, which seems to last forever.

In Vancouver we cannot even manage to patch asphalt properly. Go look at any street where the houses were replaced and noticed the patchwork quilt of the street. The bricks in Gastown are even worse.