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John Loudon McAdam

jon LOW-den muh-KAD-em
Also Known As McAdam · J. L. McAdam
Road, Bridge and Cycling Engineers

Scottish engineer who developed macadam, a road building method using layers of compacted, angular crushed stone that shed water and bore traffic without the deep stone foundations earlier road builders had used. Adopted across Britain, then Europe and North America in the early to mid nineteenth century, it was the standard road surface until the later development of asphalt, or tarmac, itself a refinement of the macadam surface. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Birth Year
1756 1
Death Year
1836 1
Nationality
Scottish 1
Connections

Pioneered

Road Transport, Modes
Source Wikipedia: John Loudon McAdam

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1. Wikipedia: John Loudon McAdam
Wikipedia
  • Overview
  • Introduction
    He invented a new process, 'macadamisation', for building roads with a smooth hard surface, using controlled materials of mixed particle size and predetermined structure, that would be more durable and less muddy than soil-based tracks.
  • Career section
    This construction method, the greatest advance in road construction since Roman times, became known as 'macadamisation', or, more simply, 'macadam'.
  • Pioneered: Road Transport
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