It doesn’t matter is you call it asphalt pavement, blacktop, tarmac, macadam, plant mix, asphalt concrete, bituminous concrete, or just asphalt, today, it is everywhere! Asphalt is used in everything from shingles and sidewalks to driveways and, of course, roads (and more). But where did asphalt come from?

Asphalt Timeline

• Asphalt occurs naturally in asphalt lakes and in rock asphalt and the first recorded use of this natural asphalt was in 625 B.C. when the Babylonians used the material to build their roads.
• Even the ancient Greeks and Romans used asphalt. In fact, the word asphalt comes from the Greek word “asphaltos”, meaning “secure.”  The Romans, who used asphalt to  seal their baths, reservoirs, and aqueducts, later changed the word to “asphaltus.”
• In 1595 Sir Walter Raleigh wrote about using natural asphalt to re-caulk his ships.
• Still, hundreds of years passed before asphalt was widely used as a building material.
• In the mid 1800’s John Loudon McAdam used broken stone and hot tar to bond the stones together.
• In the late 1860s, “asphalt” came to America! The first bituminous mixtures were used for sidewalks, crosswalks, and roads.
• In 1852, French Highways utilized natural asphalt pavement.
• Then in 1870, Edmund J. DeSmedt laid the first true asphalt pavement in America, a sand mix in front of the City Hall in Newark, New Jersey.

Since that time, asphalt has taken off. Today, over 750 million tons of asphalt is poured and rolled every year…JUST in the USA.

If you have any further questions, contact an experienced asphalt company today – a company like PTG Enterprises. The asphalt experts here have managed hundreds of pavement projects and have the experience you need. So contact PTG Enterprises aka My Pavement Guy today by calling 410-636-8777 or click here today!

Give me the opportunity to impress you. I can be your one stop ‘Pavement Guy,’ for any pavement project regardless of size or scope.

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Sources:

History of Asphalt