#ThrowbackThursday: How roads were built in 1953

Crews work on U.S. 50 outside of Strong City in 1953. 

It’s #ThrowbackThursday and in today’s blog we are going back 64 years ago to 1953.

Larry Thompson, KDOT’s Director of Operations said in this picture crews are constructing concrete pavement by placing the concrete in steel forms and using a site mixer at the paver to deliver the batches of concrete.

“This method would have required a lot of hand labor to prepare the subgrade, set forms before paving and then remove the forms and reset the forms for the next placement,” Thompson said.

We’ve come a long way since 1953, and thanks to the development of automatic machinery, crews can now “auto” trim the subgrade material and place the concrete with a slip form paver. Concrete is now delivered to the pavers by dump truck as well.

“This paver eliminated the need to set and remove forms, thus reducing the labor and increasing the speed of the operation,” Thompson said. “Grade control is now off a string line that guides the automatic equipment through each phase and helps to create a smooth driving surface and uniform thickness for strength.”

The development of larger machines has also aided in the way roads are built. Many of the machines are now controlled by electronic sensors that speed the process along, while at the same time providing uniformity and increased production. This allows the contractor to provide a quality project in less time and at a cheaper cost.

Remember when you are driving in work zones to slow down and stay alert.