Asphalt Paving Begin
Asphalt paving has been used in countless ways from ancient times to modern day. In fact, asphalt has been mentioned in the Book of Genesis several times. It is also used for waterproofing and caulking. This substance is a naturally occurring mixture of limestone and sand, and is derived from the Greek word “asphaltos.” The first use of asphalt in road building occurred in Babylon around 625 B.C. It is also used as a sealant for water tanks, temple baths, and merchant ships.
One of the earliest recorded uses of Asphalt paving for road construction was during the reign of King Nabopolassar of Babylon. The first known asphalt-like road was a small experimental strip in front of Newark City Hall in 1870. When the Belgian chemist Edmund J. DeSmedt was working in Washington, D.C., he constructed several asphalt-like pavements. He used a 54,000 square yard mixture of asphalt from Trinidad Lake.
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Another important source of asphalt was the Bermudez Lake in Venezuela. This lake was discovered in 1498 by Sir Walter Raleigh. This lake contains a pitch lake of asphalt, which is the largest natural asphalt lake in the world. Bermudez asphalt is still being used today as a road binder.
When Did Asphalt Paving Begin?
As the demand for better road conditions increased, the petroleum industry developed emulsified and cutback asphalts. Merchants began marketing these products in the 1800s. A few years later, the Cummer Company constructed the nation’s first commercial hot mix production facility.
During World War II, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was charged with military road construction. In 1940, when airplanes were introduced, the Army realized that sod airfields would not suffice for 37,000-pound wheel loads. Since the corps didn’t have a standard method for designing highway pavements, it asked the Asphalt Institute for design expertise.
As the war ended, the asphalt paving industry was impacted by a huge public works program. Hundreds of miles of low-cost roads with an asphalt surface were built during this time, from 50,000 to 210,000, and in some cases, a combination of asphalt and stones was used.
As the automobile took over the American scene, the need for better road surfaces became paramount. After the Great Depression, the U.S. had an energy crisis. It was during this time that the asphalt industry needed a single voice to represent all asphalt producing companies. Until this time, the oil industry had been manufacturing crude oil, but the road building industry had been using natural asphalt. By the late 1920s, however, crude-oil-based asphalt had only recently outpaced natural asphalt.
Because the demand for more efficient transportation systems was so great, the U.S. developed a number of technologies that would help make the country’s transportation system more effective. These innovations included the development of paving machines that could lay the asphalt with less labor. Various types of aggregates were tested in the field and various sizes were experimented with.
In addition to the introduction of asphalt-laying machines, the use of drum mixers and mechanical spreaders for laying asphalt also became more widespread. With the introduction of these new innovations, the asphalt paving industry was on the road to mechanization.