Paving Our Ways

Paving Our Ways covers the international history of road paving in an interesting, readable and technically accurate way. It provides an overview of the associated technologies in a historical context.

It examines the earliest pavements in Egypt and Mesopotamia and then moves to North Africa, Crete, Greece and Italy, before a review of pavements used by the Romans in their magnificent road system. After its empire collapsed, Roman pavements fell into ruin. The slow recovery of pavements in Europe began in France and then in England.

The work of Trésaguet, Telford and McAdam is examined. Asphalt and concrete slowly improved as paving materials in the second part of the 19th century. Major advances occurred in the 20th century with the availability of powerful machinery, pneumatic tyres and bitumen. The advances needed to bring pavements to their current development are explored, as are the tools for financing, constructing, managing and maintaining pavements.

The book should appeal to those interested in road paving, and in the history of engineering and transport. It can also serve as a text for courses in engineering history.

"I found much of interest from a heritage perspective in the changing technology across the world from China and Mesopotamia, Europe, Britain, Australia and North America, stretching from biblical times to the present
day. . . . The book should provide a comprehensive reference for civil engineering students and practising engineers,
and will be interesting from a history and heritage perspective for more general readers."

-- Keith Baker, Engineering Heritage Australia Magazine

"This is an excellent and very well documented history of road pavements. It provides a bonanza of information to any reader interested in the early roads, built millennia ago, as well as those constructed during the Industrial Revolution. It tells the story of the struggle to find a perfect an engineering solution to a complex problem: how to build durable and economical roads. The book is a joy to read. It presents in detail engineering principles, research trials and innovations, along with portraits of several major contributors to road pavement design and construction. Everyone interested in the history of road transport should buy this book; it is the best on the topic."

-- Stefan A. Romanoschi, Professor, University of Texas at Arlington

Dr Maxwell Lay is an engineering consultant known for his international

contributions to road engineering and his acclaimed international road

histories. He is a member of the Order of Australia, former Executive

Director of the Australian Road Research Board, and past President of

the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria and the Australian Automobile

Association. He has been awarded the Moisseif Medal of the American

Society of Civil Engineers, the Peter Nicol Russell, Warren and Transport

Medals of the Institution of Engineers Australia, and the Gold Medal

of Roads Australia. He is the author of Handbook of Road Technology

(CRC Press, 2019).

Dr John Metcalf has worked in pavement materials and engineering at

the British Road Research Laboratory, Queen’s University in Canada,

and the Queensland Main Roads Department. He was Deputy Director

of the Australian Road Research Board and later was appointed Chaired

Professor of Civil Engineering at Louisiana State University. He was a

Fellow of the (UK) Institution of Civil Engineers and the Geological Society

of London and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is

an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia.

Kieran Sharp worked for the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) as a

researcher in the fields of pavements, roads, and transport, and as technical

editor, for over 40 years. He was the first member of ARRB to receive an

Austroads Achievement Award. He is the Chair of the Technical Committee

of the Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australia, a member of the

Governing Council, and an Honorary Member. He was awarded the Roads

Australia Award for Technical Excellence in 2013.

Paving Our Ways covers the international history of road paving in an interesting, readable and technically accurate way. It provides an overview of the associated technologies in a historical context. It examines the earliest pavements in Egypt and Mesopotamia and then moves to North Africa, Crete, Greece and Italy, before a review of pavements used by the Romans in their magnificent road system. After its empire collapsed, Roman pavements fell into ruin. The slow recovery of pavements in Europe began in France and then in England. The work of Tr

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