Tarmac Group first listed on the Birmingham Stock Exchange in 1913 and then the London Stock Exchange in 1922. During the 1920s and ‘30s Tarmac had to cope with national strikes, recession and periods of intense competition. Nevertheless, the company gradually expanded its geographic coverage (particularly in the south east), increased its production of paving slabs and moved into road surfacing as well as supply. As with so many companies in the construction industry, the Second World War increased the demand for Tarmac’s services, notably for surfacing the large numbers of airfields being built or modernised. By the time of its half
History of road transport the trusts and restrictions on the width of wheels - narrow wheels were said to cause a disproportionate amount of damage to the road. The quality of early turnpike roads was varied. Although turnpiking did result in some improvement to each highway, the technologies used to deal with geological features, drainage, and the effects of weather, were all in their infancy. Road construction improved slowly, initially through the efforts of individual surveyors such as John Metcalf in Yorkshire in the 1760s. British turnpike builders began to realise the importance of selecting clean stones for surfacing, and excluding vegetable material and