Your last sentence tells you why the roads are so much better there. They are built to support armor. Everything was built to be able to move troops in the event of a war with the USSR. Plus I am betting we paid for it.The area of Germany I was in (far nothern Bavaria) the climate wasn't too much different than Indiana. Lots of freeze/thaw cycles every winter. Compound that with all the wear and tear was inflicted by heavy armor, it is amazing how well that road held up.