Skip to main content

VIDEO: Concrete paving - you’ve come a long way, baby!

It’s 1948. The grand scheme of creating an Interstate Highway system in the US is still barely a twinkle in President Dwight Eisenhower’s military eye. Highway construction improved greatly in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the American contractors became more mechanized and therefore efficient at laying roads faster and of better quality. But how did they build a road back then in 1948? Thanks to Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, we have a movie of just how a concrete highway was created. The constr
July 14, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
It’s 1948. The grand scheme of creating an Interstate Highway system in the US is still barely a twinkle in President Dwight Eisenhower’s military eye. Highway construction improved greatly in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the American contractors became more mechanized and therefore efficient at laying roads faster and of better quality.

But how did they build a road back then in 1948?

Thanks to Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, we have a movie of just how a concrete highway was created. The construction site looked more like a chain gang from a nearby prison that a professionally done infrastructure project.

Viewers just might be able to feel the sun’s heat as workers toil into the long day.

If this video piqued your curiosity about road building projects back then, %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal click here Visit youtube Page false https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neaoGclvips false false%> to see a 1951 film from the Bethlehem Steel Company. Things have apparently moved on since 1948 and steel is making inroads. At least this film is in colour.

Related Content

  • Top Glass CAB
    January 6, 2017
    CAB Glazing Services (CGS) is exhibiting at Intermat 2012 its latest range of glass for OEM brands, machinery dealers, spare part companies and end users as it looks to further broaden its customer base. CGS says it produces glass that meets or exceeds international quality assurance standards, therefore offering customers the best product available. The company stock thousands of curved and flat glasses, so many items are available from stock with zero lead times. Darren Kivlin, partner at CAB Glazing Serv
  • Top Glass CAB
    April 13, 2012
    CAB Glazing Services (CGS) is exhibiting at Intermat 2012 its latest range of glass for OEM brands, machinery dealers, spare part companies and end users as it looks to further broaden its customer base. CGS says it produces glass that meets or exceeds international quality assurance standards, therefore offering customers the best product available. The company stock thousands of curved and flat glasses, so many items are available from stock with zero lead times. Darren Kivlin, partner at CAB Glazing Serv
  • Bell Equipment unveils its ‘evolutionary’ E-series ADT
    January 6, 2017
    South African articulated dump truck manufacturer Bell Equipment unveiled a new generation of ADTs at INTERMAT yesterday. The new E-series – E is for evolutionary – boasts a wider hood and a “more imposing styling” according to the company. It is planned to go into production in 2013. Bell Equipment chief executive Gary Bell said, “We believe that our D-series has successfully met the challenges of the world’s job sites and has many strengths and features across the range that our customers would like to se
  • Bell Equipment unveils its ‘evolutionary’ E-series ADT
    April 16, 2012
    South African articulated dump truck manufacturer Bell Equipment unveiled a new generation of ADTs at INTERMAT yesterday. The new E-series – E is for evolutionary – boasts a wider hood and a “more imposing styling” according to the company. It is planned to go into production in 2013. Bell Equipment chief executive Gary Bell said, “We believe that our D-series has successfully met the challenges of the world’s job sites and has many strengths and features across the range that our customers would like to se