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

  • More demonstrations, more exhibitors at PLANTWORX 2017 in the UK
    January 26, 2017
    The 3rd biennial PLANTWORX Construction Machinery exhibition in the UK is on target to exceed the number of exhibitors at the last show in 2015. With five months to go before opening, 278 exhibitors have signed up, making 86% of exhibition spaces sold, according to the organisers. Of the 278 exhibitors, 74 are new to the event which is hosted the CEA - the UK’s Construction Equipment Association. The biennial event will take place at its established home at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestersh
  • Doosan updates short-radius 14tonner
    January 6, 2017
    Doosan Construction Equipment has launched a Dash-3 version of its popular reduced-radius 15tonne excavator, the DX140LCR-3. Powered by a Cummins QSB4.5 Stage IIIB-compliant engine, with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and a diesel particulate filter (DPF), the machine has 10% more power and 15% more torque than the previous model. Both main boom and dipper arm forces get an 8% boost, while travel speeds are increased to 5.3km/h, resulting in a claimed a 10% increase in productivity.
  • Doosan updates short-radius 14tonner
    April 16, 2013
    Doosan Construction Equipment has launched a Dash-3 version of its popular reduced-radius 15tonne excavator, the DX140LCR-3. Powered by a Cummins QSB4.5 Stage IIIB-compliant engine, with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and a diesel particulate filter (DPF), the machine has 10% more power and 15% more torque than the previous model. Both main boom and dipper arm forces get an 8% boost, while travel speeds are increased to 5.3km/h, resulting in a claimed a 10% increase in productivity.
  • Smoother quieter excavators from Doosan unveiled at INTERMAT
    January 6, 2017
    Doosan’s new Stage IIIB-compliant DX300LC-3 and DX340LC-3 crawler excavators are said to offer 6% to 17% higher productivity, along with fuel saving and reduced costs. The 30 and 35tonne machines have a new ROPS and OPG-certified pressurised cab. A heated air suspension seat and a new cab suspension cut vibration by 20% and reduce the sound level in the cab to 71d(B)A.