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

  • Marini’s eTOWER 2500 of strength
    April 8, 2013
    Marini’s new eTOWER 2500 asphalt plant on show at bauma 2013 is capable of producing 200tonnes/hour of asphalt. Details of the full Fayat-owned Marini brand range will also be available at the world’s biggest construction equipment show in the Fayat Group’s ‘Asphalt Pavilion’. The Pavilion, which will include touchscreen and videowall presentations, will include a special focus on Marini mobile and warm mix asphalt lines.
  • INTERMAT launch for Topcon total stations
    February 3, 2012
    A new range of reflectorless total stations has been developed by Topcon. Called the ES series, the new models also feature TSshield – a Topcon Group innovation using a multi-function telematics-based communication module that locates the instrument.
  • Dynapac is offering paving controls from Leica Geosystems
    January 6, 2017
    Dynapac is now offering the PaveSmart 3D package from Leica Geosystems as part of a system alongside the Dynapac PaveManager v1.0 levelling system. The sophisticated PaveSmart 3D machine control system is being offered on the new-generation SD2500C/CS and SD2550C/CS asphalt pavers.
  • Dynapac is offering paving controls from Leica Geosystems
    April 16, 2012
    Dynapac is now offering the PaveSmart 3D package from Leica Geosystems as part of a system alongside the Dynapac PaveManager v1.0 levelling system. The sophisticated PaveSmart 3D machine control system is being offered on the new-generation SD2500C/CS and SD2550C/CS asphalt pavers.