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Home::Environment

When Asphalt and Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth

Author : James Monahan

You may not be aware of it but a part of the highways and
parking lots that you drive your car into may have been around
for millions of years! Those roadways and pavements'
considerable history can be attributed to one if its key
component - asphalt. Yes, the asphalt that is used to pave the
roads that you drive through has indeed been around since the
prehistoric times to merit a discussion.

Asphalt has been dated back as early as the prehistoric period.
Evidence of this claim can be attributed prehistoric animal
preserves found by archaeologists at La Brea Tar Pit, Los
Angeles California that have been observed to have asphalt
deposits.

There should be no surprise to it already because by definition,
asphalt is a black, viscous, cement-like bitumen (an organic
byproduct of organic matter) that occurs naturally in crude
petroleum. Since fossil deposits produce petroleum, it is
natural to find asphalt that can date back to millions of years
ago.

Even if it is a byproduct, technology has found different ways
and means to utilize asphalt. However, industries at present do
not use natural deposits of asphalts found directly from its
source. The asphalt that is used these days has to be separated
and isolated from crude oil such as naphtha, gasoline and diesel.

It was in the ancient times when natural asphalt was used
extensively by civilizations. Ancient Babylonians used natural
asphalt as a building material. It can even be noted in the Old
Testament books of Genesis and Exodus. If you browse through
these books of the Bible, you can read that asphalt has been
referred to several times as a "caulking material".

>From recent archaeological excavations, it has been found that
asphalt was a significant material for ancient civilizations.

Dating back as far as 3200-540 BC, asphalt has been used by
ancient civilizations near the Indus Valley such as the
Mesopotamians as cement for masonry, a material for street
construction and as a waterproofing layer for temple baths and
water tanks to name a few.

Even Egyptian mummies had their fair share of asphalt. Mummies
dating back as far as 300 BC had asphalt as one of its important
materials for its mummification.

It was not until 1802 when asphalt was first used to pave roads.
Back then, asphalt that was used was not yet refined and
processed. Rock asphalt was first used in France for floors,
bridges and sidewalk surfacing. Philadelphia then followed in
1838 when rock asphalt was also used to pave sidewalk
constructions in the said state.

Before the use of processed asphalt, smooth and level roads were
unheard of. Rocks, boulders and chunks of asphalt were used but
not evened out to provide smooth and flat roads. Processed
asphalt was not used up until 1870 when Newark, New Jersey
claimed the title of the first state to have the first processed
asphalt-laid pavement

Since then, the demand for processed asphalt has gradually
increased. However, as the industrial age pushed forward, the
demand for asphalt increased dramatically. From the 3
million-ton demand in 1926, the demand for asphalt increased up
to 11 million tons in 1950, following the World War II.

The advantages of asphalt emulsion (a mixture of asphalt, water
and an emulsifying agent that enables the asphalt to mix well
with water) also helped in the boom of asphalt production.

During the 1970s when an energy conservation measure was issued
by the Federal Energy Administration, asphalt emulsion became a
commendable candidate for road construction. Since it did not
require petroleum solvent to make it liquid and it can be used
even without additional heat, the use of asphalt emulsion
contributed much to the energy conservation drive of the
government.

In retrospect, the asphalt on our present day roads and highways
may not be millions of years old. However, the next time we
walked through a sidewalk or drove to a parking lot; let us not
disregard the history and the advantages that this age-old
material has given us.

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