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

  • IRF calling for road safety presentations for Saudi Arabia and Washington DC events
    October 12, 2015
    The International Road Federation (IRF) is calling for presentations on road safety for events in Saudi Arabia and Washington DC. These presentations should be on Roadside Safety, Work Zone Safety and Vulnerable User Safety. They will be made at the IRF Middle East Regional Congress in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from December 15th to December 17th, 2015.
  • New quenched and tempered steels from NLMK Clabecq
    January 6, 2017
    NLMK Clabecq is launching new quenched and tempered steel products in 2013, with wider ranges of thicknesses and grades. During 2013, the Belgian specialist in thin and large steel plates intends to introduce superior grades for Quard, its abrasion resistant steel and Quend, its high yield strength steel. These introductions will to the range of solutions for heavy machinery manufacturers. Marketing manager Bernard Robins said, “Tests we are conducting with manufacturers are very positive. Welding our steel
  • New quenched and tempered steels from NLMK Clabecq
    February 5, 2013
    NLMK Clabecq is launching new quenched and tempered steel products in 2013, with wider ranges of thicknesses and grades. During 2013, the Belgian specialist in thin and large steel plates intends to introduce superior grades for Quard, its abrasion resistant steel and Quend, its high yield strength steel. These introductions will to the range of solutions for heavy machinery manufacturers. Marketing manager Bernard Robins said, “Tests we are conducting with manufacturers are very positive. Welding our steel
  • Have your say about digitisation in the construction sector
    April 30, 2018
    What is the state of digitisation in the construction sector and - more importantly - where will it be in three to five years or more? Will the players, large and small, in the value chain simply react to new technologies or shape them to benefit the sector by improving efficiencies and products? Importantly, what and how much cooperation will be needed to drive innovation? Have your say about these issues facing businesses, governments and the supply chain. It takes little more than 10 minutes to fill