John Loudon McAdam

Macadamised Roads

John Loudon McAdam · 1816

Set out by Ayrshire-born surveyor John Loudon McAdam in his 1816 'Remarks on the Present System of Road Making' and proved at scale on the Bristol Turnpike Trust from 1816, the 'macadam' system — a cambered, well-drained crust of small, angular, broken stones knit together by traffic itself — became the world's first all-weather road surface, and the foundation of every modern highway, motorway and airport runway on Earth.