biography
| name: |
McAdam, John Loudon
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1756–1836)
|
| biography:
| Inventor of macadamized roads, born in Ayr, South Ayrshire, SW Scotland, UK. He went to New York City in 1770, where he made a fortune in his uncle's counting-house. On his return in 1783 he bought an estate and started experimenting with new methods of road construction. In 1816 he was appointed surveyor to the Bristol Turnpike Trust, re-made the roads there with crushed stone bound with gravel, and raised the carriageway to improve drainage. In 1827 he was made surveyor-general of metropolitan roads in Great Britain, and his macadam surfaces were adopted in many other countries. |
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