stackyFACTSJust like Kleenex or Dumpster, 'Tarmac' is a victim of its own success. Short for tarmacadam, it was patented in 1901 by Edgar Hooley, who realized that mixing tar with gravel stopped roads from turning into muddy death traps. Now news anchors use it to describe every inch of an airport, much to the annoyance of pedantic civil engineers.
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What common modern road feature reduces fatal crashes by 90% but consistently causes massive anxiety for drivers?
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Approaching a massive plaza suddenly turns every driver into a panicked swerving hazard. The booths are intentionally scattered into a violently wide…
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Why were those jarring 'rumble strips' on the edges of highways originally invented in the 1950s?
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Why are modern roads almost entirely paved with dark asphalt instead of highly durable, light-colored concrete?
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Modern suspension bridges are deliberately engineered to physically flex, bend, and violently sway in heavy crosswinds or rolling earthquakes to prevent the…
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Space is so tight on the tiny British territory of Gibraltar that city planners were forced to get extremely creative and recklessly dangerous. The main…
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