History of Paving Stones
Paving stones, or pavers as they are sometimes called, are
concrete blocks used in landscaping.
They came to Canada and the United States after being developed in
Europe in the 1970s. In Calgary paving stones are often what people use to give their driveway, walkway or patio extra
charm.
While they weren’t the first (that goes to the Egyptians)
the Romans used pavers in 500 BC to get better use out of their roads. The mud on the road really slowed down the
traffic. If there wasn’t mud that was
dust, which created its own set of problems.
The Romans fixed these problems by created a deep bed of crushed rock
while putting hexagonal cap stones as the top layer. These provided the Roman military with
greater mobility.
As time progressed, a lot of
streets, roadways and avenues used the Roman way, using natural rocks and
clay. These were used up until the 18th
century when English road workers surmised that using clean stones would make
for better roads. This upped the cost of
paving until the invention of concrete paving stones. This increased the speed by which people
could travel using the latest technology at the time, horse drawn carriages.
As much of the Netherlands is
below sea level, in the 1940s the Dutch were having problems with streets
shifting and sinking. Paving stones were
seen as a much better solution that concrete as concrete would crack as the
ground moved. This allowed for a much
more malleable and structurally sound road structures that would withstand the
movement of the ground.
When Europe was reconstructed
after being destroyed by World War II, paving stones were often used as they
have shown to be a better long term way to build roads than concrete or
asphalt. At this time colors and shapes
were introduced to paving stones by German Engineer Fritz Von Langsdorff. They
also used concrete paving stones as they were cheaper to use and held together
better under pressure. Concrete paving
stones were first seen in Stuttgart, Germany.
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