Tarmacadam Tarmacadam Tarmacadam is a road surfacing material made by combining macadam surfaces, tar, and sand, patented by Welsh inventor Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1902. The terms "tarmacadam" and tarmac are also used, with varying degrees of correctness, for a variety of other materials, including tar-grouted macadam, bituminous surface treatments, and modern asphalt concrete. The term is also often used to describe airport aprons (also referred to as "ramps"), taxiways, and runways regardless of the surface. Pioneered by Scottish engineer in the 1820s, macadam roads are prone to rutting and generating dust. Methods to stabilize macadam surfaces with tar date back
Surfacing (novel) Surfacing (novel) Surfacing is a novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Published by McClelland and Stewart in 1972, it was her second novel. "Surfacing" has been described by commentators as a companion novel to Atwood's collection of poems, "Power Politics", which was written the previous year and deals with complementary issues. The novel, grappling with notions of national and gendered identity, anticipated rising concerns about conservation and preservation and the emergence of Canadian nationalism. It was adapted into a movie in 1981. The book tells the story of a woman who returns to her hometown in Canada to find her