John Loudon McAdam

John Loudon McAdam was born in Ayshire, Scotland on September 21, 1756. He attended the parish school of Maybole. In 1770, he moved to New York to work in his uncle's counting house. In 1783 he moved back to Scotland and purchased an estate in Sauhrie, Ayshire.

He became interested in roads and became a road trustee in his district. At this time most roads were loose, unpaved, and in great need of repair. In1798, he moved to Falmouth, Cornwall to continue his studies. He devised a road system which was much like the system used by the ancient Romans. The road he invented was raised off the ground for good water runoff. First, large stones were piled to make a good base followed by small pebbles and then fine gravel. This system of roads was called a Macadam road. They were useful because they wouldn't be washed away, they were long lasting, and they held up better to heavy traffic.

In 1815, McAdam was appointed Surveyor General of Bristol Roads and put his ideas to work in the Bristol area. Soon, his ideas for designing roads caught on and he was appointed Surveyor General of Metropolitan Roads in Great Britain in 1827. He wrote two works: The Present System of Road Making (1816) and Practical Essay on the Scientific Repair and Preservation of Roads (1819). He died in 1836.