Posted on: July 16, 2018

What is Tarmac Made Of?

Traditional tarmac is made of a grouping of materials that range from tar to sand and macadam.

The original use of tarmac leads back to an invention from a Welsh inventor in 1902. Edgar Purnell Hooley was one of the first people to create tarmacadam. For a series of surfaces from airport aprons to runways, this was the type of road that was fairly popular because it was extremely smooth.

Today materials have been upgraded to improve the overall strength of tarmac as well as its even nature. Tarmac today often involves the use of modern asphalt concrete as well as bituminous surface treatments that can help to protect the surface of tarmac for the future.

Although the word is still fairly common for many airport terminals and racetracks, the original process of using macadam has become almost completely obsolete. The extra manual labour requirement as well as the issues with consistency simply make it an obsolete product. The apron near airport terminals today and runway surfaces are almost always made out of concrete.

In the past, instead of the bitumen surface covering traditional tar was used in the process of construction. As this is widely considered to be an inconsistent product for construction today and because it produces a byproduct this is another reason why the more traditional methods for tarmac construction are no longer used.

As perhaps the second most widely used road surfacing material, it can be difficult to tell the difference between asphalt and tarmac.

Asphalt can be a relatively cheap surface and it’s only usually something to use in large areas like a highway or road surfacing. Tarmac on the other hand is often much more expensive to lay down but also more consistent in its quality and lifespan.

Keep in mind that modern tarmac today can be one of the best and most consistent styles of roadway and runway paving surfaces.