Macadam

a durable roadbed built of crushed rock. The bed of the proposed road is first of all graded and given a slight roll toward the sides. The road builder proceeds to apply several layers of metal, as the broken rock is called. The first consists of pieces four or five inches in diameter. Each successive layer is of smaller pieces. The road is finished with gravel and clay rolled or stamped into a smooth, compact roadway. The name is that of a celebrated Scottish engineer, John Loudon Macadam, 1756-1836. He spent several thousand pounds of his own money in demonstrating the value of this method of road building. Parliament voted him a gift of $50,000 in honor of his services. The macadam system of road building has spread all over Europe. No wayside sight is more common in Switzerland or along the Rhine than that of peasants on their knees, stone in one hand and hammer in the other, breaking metal to mend roads with. Stone crushers operated by power are now in use, especially in many American cities and in localities ambitious to have good roads. Granite is the most durable road metal.