John Loudon McAdam
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John Loudon McAdam was a Scottish civil engineer and road-builder. He invented a new process, "macadamisation", for building roads with a smooth hard surface, using controlled materials of mixed parti
John Loudon McAdam, 1830, National Gallery, London
Memorial stone to John Loudon McAdam
Tarmacadam
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Tarmacadam or tarmac is a road surfacing material made by combining tar and macadam, patented by Welsh inventor Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1902. It is a more durable and dust-free enhancement of simple c
John Loudon McAdam
…influence. Of subsequent improvements, the most significant was the introduction of tar (originally coal tar) to bind the road surface's stones together, "tarmac" (for Tar Macadam.) McAdam was born in Ayr, Scotland. He was the youngest of ten children and second son of the Baron of Waterhead. He moved to Lagwine…
Workers tarring a road in London during World War I
Kabul Kandahar Highway in 2003