Natural deposits found – 1595Ī whole lake of ‘asphalt’ was discovered in 1595 by Sir Walter Raleigh at the island of Trinidad. Asphalt the word is derived from the Greek word ‘asphaltos’ which means ‘secure’. In fact, both the Greeks and Romans used asphalt for various means around the same time. Some variations of asphalt were used as a water sealer or mortar in ancient times, but the first notable evidence of its application as a surfacing material was in 625 B.C. In this article, we rewind time and look at the key historical events that turned asphalt into the widely used surfacing material we all know and love. Today, asphalt is everywhere we look in Perth – roads, car parks, asphalt driveways, sport courts and more, but where did it all begin?
#Bumpy road quote trial#
Like most things, asphalt is a product with humble beginnings, mastered over hundreds of years of trial and error. So please read on to see the history of asphalt (bitumen). In Australia, asphalt is also known as hot-mix, bituminous concrete, asphalt concrete and simply as asphalt. The USA ‘Asphalt’/Australia ‘Bitumen’ refers to the thick black liquid component used as a binder (much like cement in concrete which people often also mix up the terms) to bind the aggregate and sand together into a workable product.īitumen is also used as a ‘spray-seal’ whereby the liquid bitumen is sprayed onto the surface then covered with aggregate and rolled in, usually repeating a second coat. The following American-based article uses the term ‘asphalt’ as we in Western Australia refer to what is known as ‘bitumen’ in Australia and is the heavy by-product of the refining of crude oil.
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