Page 8 - Lecture Notes DCC3113

1.1.4 The history of highway and road:

a. Construction
b. Law and acts in Malaysia

The history of highway construction

Traces of early roads have been found since the recorded history of
the mankind. The first and oldest mode of travel obviously was foot path.
Before invention of wheel, people used to move on foot, thus creating foot
paths. Men and material must have been transported either on backs of men
or animals.

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The famous road designers in 18 century
i. Pierre Tresaguet
ii. John Metcalf
iii. Thomas Telford
iv. John Macadam
Figure 1-2: Highway construction

Robert Philips road

The frontier of road design. In 1736, he suggested that a layer of gravel placed on roadbase with good
drainage would be compacted by traffic and become hard surface

Pierre Tresaguet road

Mr. Pierre Tresaquet was inspector general of roads in France from 1746 to 1775. He developed
an improved method of road construction. He also made consideration of sub-grade moisture and
drainage from the surface. He also emphasized the need for continuous maintenance of road to keep it
in good shape. At the time of Napoleon, quite elaborate road system was developed in France mainly for
use of military adventures.

edge stone broken stone pebbles and broken stone

Longitudal
drain

Quarried stone

Figure 1-3: Tresaguet Road

John Metcalf roads

He was working in England. Known as Blind Jack of Knaresborough. He experimented road
construction with a graded mixture of earth and gravel. Since Mr. Metcalf was blind, his work could not
be recorded. Gravel layer was used to be compacted in due course of time, by the action of the traffic
using road. Metcalf constructed about 290 Km of road in Yorkshire, northern parts of England.

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