History of Roads

Short History of Roads

Original Road from Alexandria 

According to the U.S Department of Transportation “the oldest constructed roads discovered to date are in former Mesopotamia”. These roads date back to around 4000 B.C.  These were created by the Sumerians who used meticulous brick-making skills to form mud bricks.  Roads built from timber were also discovered in Glastonbury, England.  The next known advancement in roads was created by Scottish man, John Metcalfe.  In the 1700s, he created roads built in a multilayer of large stones, mixture of road material, and a layer of gravel.  The first “tar” road was built in Paris.  The Champs-Elysees was covered in asphalt in 1824.

Paved Champs-Elysees 

  This was the first modern road in Europe.  By the late 1800s roads were commonly being paved in America.  Currently, asphalt concrete is the most common pavement used in road construction.  Depending on the use of the road various polymers are added to change the performance of the pavement. [4]