Hi Jose
I was simply correcting the statement.

Here is McAdam's role:
In 1816 the engineer John McAdam was appointed General Surveyor of
Bristol Roads. A Scot who had moved to Bristol, he had worked out on a
new approach to road construction. He instructed that stones should be
graded and laid in three levels, with the smallest stones crushed and
laid as a top surface. This ensured a smoother well-drained finish.
Such roads were said to be 'macadamised'. The technique revolutionised
the local turnpike roads, allowing swifter and safer travel.

Here is what you said:
Tarmac (short for tarmacadam) is actually a trade name
for the substance; it (the word)is formed from "tar" and "macadam".
Macadam (the paving substance made of crushed stone and a binder,
usually tar) is named after its inventer, John L. McAdam, a Scottish
engineer.

In fact MacAdam did not add any binder (that was the error that I
referred to) - he simply used 3 different grades of crushed stones. And
his method was not called Tarmac, or Tarmacadam, it was called Macadam.

Quite honestly I don't care what anyone calls it. It's just that, as
probably the only person in rec. aviation who actually knows the history
of Tarmac in great detail, having worked for them and having explained
the history many times to their clients, I decided to help clarify the
issue.

HTH

Tony

--

Tony Roberts
PP-ASEL
VFR OTT
Night
Cessna 172H C-GICE



In article ,
Jose wrote:

. . . is named after its inventer, John L. McAdam . . .

I believe that to be incorrect.
It was invented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901

The three dots above left out the crucial information. I did not
claim Tarmac was invented by John, just Macadam.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary's etymology, Macadam was
invented by John L. McAdam. It used crushed and graded stones for a
road surface. What Hooley did (according to your quote) was to add
tar to the mix.

Jose