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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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John McAdam
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(1756–1836) Engineer who invented a road surface, first put into general use in 1815 in the Bristol region, which proved much more durable than the alternatives. The principle of the 'macadamized' road was that the surface should be well drained and raised slightly above ground level. McAdam achieved this by laying graded stones, with the largest at the bottom. There were usually three layers, each compacted by the road being opened to carriage traffic for several weeks before the next was laid. The addition of tar later in the century provided the tar macadam road, and that in turn led to *'tarmac', a trade name for a related process.
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