macadam

Layered road surface

Macadam is a road surface made of crushed stone packed into layers and bound together, originally by traffic pressure, later with tar or asphalt.

The technique revolutionized road building in the early 19th century.

Tarmac is short for tar-macadam.

The old macadam road had begun to crack and crumble.

binding

tar

File bundling utility

bitumenViscous hydrocarbon mixture
asphaltPetroleum-based paving material
sealantGap-blocking substance

emulsion · binder · pitch · penetration · coating

roads

driveway

Private residential road

highwayMajor road for travel
carriagewayVehicle portion of road
turnpikeFee-charging highway

lane · thoroughfare · roadway · pavement · street · byway · rural road · country road · track · avenue

construction

paving

Laying hard ground cover

compactionReducing volume through pressure
rollingTurning over repeatedly
gradingAssigning marks to work

resurfacing · steamroller · layering · spreading · leveling · patching · repaving · maintenance · camber · roadbed

material

aggregate

Combined sum total

gravelLoose small rock fragments
chippingsSmall broken stone pieces
limestoneCarbonate sedimentary rock

granite · basalt · ballast · screenings · pebbles · sandstone · slag · quarry · rubble · fines

Categories

ground surfacesdirt, grass, gravel, sand, soil
paved surfacespavement, asphalt, concrete, blacktop, sidewalk
roadbedroadbed, trackbed, track bed, railbed, subgrade
asphaltasphalt, bitumen, blacktop, natural asphalt, asphalt shingles

Opposites

road surface material type

macadamunpaved

Without permanent road covering

concrete · poured concrete · cement · dirt · asphalt

ground surface condition

macadamunpaved road

Unfinished driving surface

dirt track · mud · rough terrain · grass · sand

road surface condition/quality

macadamdirt road

Unpaved rural thoroughfare

unpaved · unimproved · earthen · mud · footpath

Family

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Rated G