430 



THE AKT OF ROAD-MAKING. 



TART VIII. 



all weathers, and standing in comparatively small need 

 of repairs. 1 



Owing to the mountainous nature of the country 

 through which this road passes, the bridges are un- 

 usually numerous and of large dimensions. Thus, the 



1 A similar practice was introduced 

 in England about the same time by 

 Mr. Macadam ; and, though his me- 

 thod was not so thorough as that of 

 Teltbrd, it was usefully employed on 

 nearly all the leading high roads of 

 the kingdom. Mr. Macadam's atten- 



J. L. MACADAM. 



tion was first directed to the subject 

 while acting as one of the trustees of a 

 road in Ayrshire. Afterwards, while 

 employed as Government agent for 

 victualling the navy in the western 

 parts of England, he continued the 

 study of road-making, keeping in 

 view the essential conditions of a com- 

 pact and durable substance and a 

 smooth surface. At that time road 

 legislation was principally directed to 

 the breadth of the wheels of vehicles ; 

 whilst Macadam was of opinion that 

 the main point was to attend to 

 the nature of the roads on which 

 they were to travel. Most roads 

 were then made with gravel, or flints 

 tumbled upon them in their natural 

 state, and so rounded that they had 

 no points of contact, and rarely con- 

 solidated. When a heavy vehicle of 



any sort passed over them, their loose 

 structure presented no resistance ; the 

 roads were thus constantly standing in 

 need of repair, and they were bad even 

 at the best. He pointed out that the 

 defect did not arise from the want of 

 materials, which were not worn out by 

 the traffic, but merely displaced. The 

 practice he urged was this : to break 

 the stones into angular fragments, so 

 that a bed several inches in depth 

 should be formed, the best adapted 

 for the purpose being fragments of 

 granite, greenstone, or basalt; to 

 watch the repairs of the road care- 

 fully during the process of consoli- 

 dation, filling up the inequalities 

 caused by the traffic passing over it, 

 until a hard and level surface had 

 been obtained, when the road would 

 last for years without further atten- 

 tion. In 1815 Mr. Macadam de- 

 voted himself with great enthusiasm 

 to roadmaking as a profession, and 

 being appointed surveyor-general of 

 the Bristol roads, he had full oppor- 

 tunities of exemplifying his system. 

 It proved so successful that the ex- 

 ample set by him was quickly fol- 

 lowed over the entire kingdom. Even 

 the streets of many large towns were 

 Macadamised. In carrying out his 

 improvements, however, Mr. Mac- 

 adam spent several thousand pounds 

 from his own resources, and in 1825, 

 having proved this expenditure before 

 a committee of the House of Com- 

 mons, the amount was reimbursed to 

 him, together with an honorary tri- 

 bute of two thousand pounds. Mr. 

 Macadam died poor, but, as he him- 

 self said, " at least an honest man." 

 By his indefatigable exertions and his 

 success as a roadmaker, by greatly 

 saving animal labour, facilitating com- 

 mercial intercourse, and rendering 

 travelling easy and expeditious, he 

 entitled himself to the reputation of a 

 public benefactor. 



