The Roadmakers (Auto Review Album Number 196, Rod Ward)

'The history of our roads is told in this Auto Review publication, as they improved from muddy tracks and dusty lanes to a system of fast metalled roads.

We go on to tell the story of the roadmaking process, to cover most of the many different machines involved; excavators, bulldozers, loaders. backhoes, scrapers, graders, dump trucks (large and small), concrete mixers, pavers, finishers, tar-sprayers, steam and diesel rollers and so on. Along the way, earthmoving and construction equipment used for other purposes is also mentioned.

A large section of this publication is devoted to manufacturers of steam rollers and motor rollers, but on other pages you will see other famous names, from Caterpillar and Euclid to Komatsu and JCB, as well as smaller companies. Thousands of companies worldwide have been involved with making machinery for this sector, so we can only mention some of the more interesting British firms in this publication, along with a few leading overseas brands. The potted histories of various manufacturers are mostly grouped under a product heading for which a maker is well-known, but such is the diversity of most makers’ ranges that they could equally well have been included under six or more other headings.'

-Zeteo