"}\n85% of natural asphalt is found in the Western hemisphere; \nthe most famous asphalt field is probably the La Brea Tar Pits in Los \nAngeles, but the largest reserves are in Alberta, which hold an \nestimated 2.2 trillion barrels. In addition to the natural reserves, \nasphalt has, for the last 100 years, primarily been produced by refining\n crude oil residue. Asphalt\u2019s most common use is as the binder in \nblacktop; aggregate makes up the remaining 95% of the dark mix we see on\n roads and highways. \n\n[\u2026]
\nThe largest antique source of asphalt was the Dead Sea, where chunks of \nseafloor asphalt periodically broke off and rose to the surface. In \nancient Egypt, this asphalt was used to waterproof boats [\u2026], as\n well as roads, canals, and roofs, and it was prized enough that \nAlexander the Great\u2019s general Antigonus started \u2013 and lost \u2013 a war with the \nNabataean Arabs over the Dead Sea\u2019s asphalt.\n\n[\u2026]
\nAsphalt was rare in road construction until it hit the big time in 1867 \nwith the asphalting of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Soon \nWashington was an \u201casphalt city,\u201d and the quiet, smooth streets inspired\n other cities to follow suit. Paving became ever more important with the\n popular rise of bicycles and then cars. At the turn of the century, \nrefined asphalt was developed and largely supplanted natural asphalt due\n to its higher quality and volume. This was also the time when concrete \nemerged as a road paving material, and a competition between concrete \nand asphalt emerged \n\n[\u2026].
\nO\u2019Reilly closely associates war and asphalt. In World War II, asphalt \nserved many purposes. From the Aleutian Islands in Alaska to Tinian in \nthe Northern Marianas, Navy construction battalions used asphalt to \nconstruct airfields and roads on short notice. Over 17,000 tons of \nasphalt were brought ashore during the Normandy landings. [\u2026] During the Vietnam War, building asphalt runways was \nfundamental to the American policy of aerial bombardment. Asphalt has \ncontinued to be the material of choice for ad-hoc roads and runways \nbuilt during the American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
\u2014
Text by: Alexander Luckmann. \u201cAsphalt and Sand: A Material History of Extraction and Consumption.\u201d Published online at Cleveland Review of Books. 13 May 2022.