I always was interested in roadworks as a kid, such as road signs, reflectors and bridges. I wonder though, how long asphalt paving lasts? I know my street where I live was last paved in 2004, and I'm not sure when it was before that. The highways here were paved about 2000 I think but may have had some patches redone since.

The top pavement layer is just the last layer and usually the least problematic one from all the road structure. Its life depends to som small extend on the climate (freezing winters combined with water creeping inside), but the major factor is the main road structure, how well that is able to hold all the load and how much it moves with loading.
If the main structure is of inferior quality, you will see the road to deteriorate rather quickly and if the management is active, it will be resurfaced or patched every year (because when it moves with load, the surface cracks a lot and the freezing water will do all the stuff).
To fix that you have to dig all the road sructure out and build it completely new and with some luck with better quality.

The top pavement layer is just the last layer and usually the least problematic one from all the road structure. Its life depends to som small extend on the climate (freezing winters combined with water creeping inside), but the major factor is the main road structure, how well that is able to hold all the load and how much it moves with loading.
If the main structure is of inferior quality, you will see the road to deteriorate rather quickly and if the management is active, it will be resurfaced or patched every year (because when it moves with load, the surface cracks a lot and the freezing water will do all the stuff).
To fix that you have to dig all the road sructure out and build it completely new and with some luck with better quality.

You can add to that the amount of traffic going over it, that certainly adds to the wear that it gets.

I must admit to getting a touch confuzzled here. Which part of the road are we talking about..? I suspect a touch of Anglo-American language difficulty going on here..! To me, a pavement is the part of the road that you walk on, the part where the cars go is the carriageway, or more colloquially, the road 

You can add to that the amount of traffic going over it, that certainly adds to the wear that it gets.

That I meant by the "load"...


And for the "road" vs "pavement" vs "sidewalk":
Now I'm not that sure is it is correct, but by the "pavement" I meant the top surface (bitumen, shredded tyre rubber and other ingredients enriched concrete or sometimes decorative bricks or tiles, what uses to be the material for it) layer of the road/sidewalk/walkway structure.

That I meant by the "load"...


And for the "road" vs "pavement" vs "sidewalk":
Now I'm not that sure is it is correct, but by the "pavement" I meant the top surface (bitumen, shredded tyre rubber and other ingredients enriched concrete or sometimes decorative bricks or tiles, what uses to be the material for it) layer of the road/sidewalk/walkway structure.

It's always been an interesting topic to me, the way that different places have different names for stuff, such as 'mobile phone' and 'cellphone' for example, or petrol/gasoline. To me, a road is comprised of two (or three) components - the road surface itself, where cars and other vehicles go, which can in itself be called several different names, 'the tarmac' or 'the carriageway' (official-speak) or simply 'the road', as in "I'm going to cross the road".

Then there is the part you walk on, which is always (in the UK) the 'pavement', except for a pedestrian walkway, which is a footpath, or simply path. Thirdly, there may be a central reservation on main, busy roads, which divides traffic flow in opposite directions.

Yes, over this side of the pond if you drive on the pavement you will get a ticket. 

Yes, over this side of the pond if you drive on the pavement you will get a ticket. 

People parking on pavements is one of my pet hates. It's hard to get past sometimes, especially if you're pushing a wheelchair or similar 

We also call it asphalt on the roads.

English is spoken in so many places largely due to US influence (let’s not kid ourselves - if the US didn’t speak English; no one else would)

Yes they would, we would 

We also call it asphalt on the roads.

But it isn't always asphalt that's used, sometimes it's concrete, which is really enjoyable at high speed (not)..!

I've seen concrete roads here, on bridges usually. Although I had heard of brick roads but haven't seen any.

I've seen concrete roads here, on bridges usually. Although I had heard of brick roads but haven't seen any.

We have a few concrete roads here, and also streets made from paving blocks in some residential areas.