Roads, Roman

Hydrocarbons were first used in the field of medicine by the Romans. Bitumen was used in ancient Mesopotamia as mortar for bricks, as a road constmction material, and to waterproof boats. Arabia and Persia have a long history of producing oil. 

Roman road building prowess is exemplified in the construction of the Appian Way. 

Geomembrane These liners chiefly provide impermeable barriers. They can be characterized as (1) solid waste containment hazardous landfill, landfill capping, and sanitary landfill (2) liquid containment canal, chemical/brine pond, earthen dam, fish farm, river/coastal bank, waste-water, and recreation (3) mining, leach pad and tailing ponds and (4) specialties floating reservoir caps, secondary containment, tunnel, erosion, vapor barrier, and water purification. Plastics used include medium to very low density PE, PVC, and chlorosulfonated PE (CSPE). (The Romans used in their land and road constructions what we call geomembrane.)... 

The discovery of silk in China occurred many centuries BC, and by the time of the Roman empire, silk fabric was a prized trade commodity. The caravan routes across Asia became known as the Silk Roads. It is estimated that nearly 90% of the imports into the Roman Empire consisted of silk goods. 

The early Egyptians used a building material very similar to cement. Romans used a building material obtained by mixing lime and volcanic ash. They used it to pave roads and build other structures throughout Europe. 

There was a concentration of Roman roads at Venta Belgarum or Winchester, as a glance at the map in Fig. 7 shows. Such roads were clearly built mainly for military purposes but they must also have been designed with an eye to easy transport of metallurgical products. Of two roads to the north, one veered eastwards to... 

Calcium carbonate (limestone) occurs in nature as calcite, aragonite, valerite, dolomite (CaCOj MgCOj), chalk and travertine. An example of past use for limestone was in Egypt for construction of the Giza Pyramids and as marble - its highly crystalline form - somewhat later by the Greeks for statues and parts of buildings. The Romans used limestone extensively for road construction. Today, limestone is the... 

Limestone has undoubtedly been used since the Stone Age, although primitive man probably found uses for it before that time. The first records relate to the Egyptian Second Dynasty (some 5,800 years ago), when it was employed in the construction of the Giza Pyramids. Marble, a highly crystalline form of limestone, was used by the Greeks shortly after this period for statues and the decoration of buildings. Limestone was widely used by the Romans for building roads. 

Professor Roman Dembinski Department of Chemistry Oakland University 2200 North Squirrel Road Rochester, MI 48309... 

Mortar was used by the ancient Romans for buildings and roads. 

---