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Mr. Jones: What materials were used for road surfaces during the last century?
Engineer: Usually they were gravel and macadam. Tars and asphalt were originally used only as coverings, but later they were used as binders and finally as hot mixtures.
Mr. Jones: Concrete is a modem material as far as road - building goes, isn’ t it?
Engineer: Relatively speaking. But you might be surprised to know that a concrete road was built as early as 1893 in Ohio. But it was only 5 miles long. More extensive projects were not undertaken until much later, around 1912 or 1913.
Mr. Jones: This was because of the increase in traffic?
Engineer: That’ s right. Especially in the use of heavy tracks. More rigid pavements, such as concrete and brick, became a necessity. For light traffic, though, water-bound macadam, gravel, sand clay, and bituminous mixtures were still used.
Mr. Jones: What are turnpikes usually made of?
Engineer: Turnpikes are usually made of reinforced concrete about 8 to 10 inches thick, placed on a granular sub-base, which in turn is placed on a well - tacked earth subgrade. Of course, the construction depends a lot on the local climate, rainfall, soils, and so on.
Mr. Jones: How do you mean--climate?
Engineer: Frost is one of the main problems. For example, in Maine, where frost is quite frequent, the typical turnpike construction is a thin top layer of asphaltic concrete on a base layer of sand and gravel placed on a 36 - inch, frost - free, granular subgrade.
Mr. Jones: What is the width of these roads?
Engineer: The early two - lane roads were about 20 feet wide. But with higher automobile speeds, the width requirements increased greatly. To give you an example, the Pennsylvania Turnpike has two 12 - foot lanes in each direction, separated by a median 10 feet wide. On each side there is a 10 -foot stabilized shoulder, marking a total width of 78 feet. The New Jersey Turnpike averages 100 feet in width, with three lanes in each direction.
Mr.Jones: I guess wider roads are being built every day.
Engineer: That’ s right. Sometimes you think that, no matter how good a road you build, the speed and weight of vehicles will always be one step ahead.