The History of Paving
3000 BC
 Minoans build roads from segmental units. |
620 BC:
The first bitumen-set brick pavers are used in Babylon for roading.
500 BC: The Persian Royal Road of about 2500km is completed, running from Turkey to the Persian Gulf.
AD200
 Romans complete 85,000km of main roads from Newcastle, England to Damascus, in Syria using segmental stone paving. |
1750: Englishman John Metcalf builds 240km of highways, mainly in Lancashire and Cheshire.
1870: Clay pavers make their first appearance on the streets of North America.
Late 1800s: The first concrete pavers appear in Germany.
1926:
The US Bureau of Roads test the strength of paving for roading.
1936: The first experimental road is built with concrete pavers at Neuss, in Germany.
1951: The first concrete pavers are produced in The Netherlands as a substitute for clay units.
1952
 Pavers shaped like dog-bones are introduced in The Netherlands. |
1964: Germany produces the first product standard for concrete pavers.
1966: The Netherlands follows suit.
1970s: Machines start to produce pavers.
1972
Canada introduces a product standard for precast concrete paving slabs. (It was revised in 1999). |
1972:
The first European-made paving machine lands in the United States.
1973: North America gets its first paving manufacturer: KNR Concrete in Toronto.
1980: A watershed year: the first international conference on concrete block paving, held in Newcastle, England. Future conferences are held in The Netherlands, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Israel, and Columbia. The basis of much of the written knowledge about paving has arisen from these conferences.
1982: Pavers make their mark on big industrial sites, as their strength and longevity is recognised. The first big project: a coal terminal in Virginia, the second a container yard in Edmonton, Canada.
1983
Concrete pavers are used for the first time on an airfield (in Luton, England). |
1988
 US concrete paver production reaches 8 million square metres, thanks to the growth of the residential market. |
1985
First mechanically installed street in Dayton, Ohio. |
1992
Pavers are used for the first time at a North American airport (Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport). |
1993: The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute is formed in North America.
1998
400,000 square metres of paving is laid at Hong Kong's new international airport. |
2000: The 5000th anniversary of segmental paving.
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Industry News
Outcry at security cameras in street furniture
January 31, 2007
A suggestion that street furniture could house airport-style security cameras that see through clothes to spy on citizens is causing an outcry in Britain.
A leaked Home Office memo to a working group on security, crime and justice, reportedly said: "Street furniture could routinely house detection systems that would indicate the likely presence of a gun, for example."
The detection systems in question can penetrate clothing to reveal guns, knives, bombs and the like.
The story has been taken up by several national daily newspapers in Britain. The tabloid Sun headlined their story: "You are undie surveillance".
The British Government has already admitted that it is using street furniture and fittings for security. A spokesman said: "Architectural security improvements have been designed carefully on the basis of specific architectural advice to improve security measures in a widespread way."
Government officials had no immediate comment on the memo, but reports suggested a public backlash was expected. The memo itself even reportedly referred to the likely public outcry over the suggestion.
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