Looking Back: Paving

August 18, 2020 - National Edition #8
HCEA

Construction Equipment Guide takes a look back at some of the earliest paving equipment.

A horsedrawn drum roller on the job in Crescent City, Calif., circa 1900. (HCEA Archives photo)

All the workings of this 8-ton Erie Machine Shops steam tandem roller are on display. Note the double staggered step rim gear on the drum. This gear, the relatively tiny steering roller and other features were quite similar to one of the first American steam tandem rollers — the Anders Lindelof roller of 1873. (HCEA Archives photo)

The Koehring rotary grader from the late 1920s stripped macadam pavement and screened the material for reuse. (HCEA Archives photo)

The earliest dry batch pavers were simple mixers like this Foote 5A traction paving mixer, working on the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway on Long Island. It receives dry materials at one end of its chassis, or truck, and discharges concrete to the other. Note the fixed, non-tilting drum; it is of Foote’s unique double-cone design. A laborer at left appears to be repositioning a plank for the paver to travel on, and the “finisher” is a simple screed. (HCEA Archives photo)

An Adnun Black Topper asphalt paver and Galion three-wheel roller at work on the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio, for Murdock Construction Company in the early 1950s. Along with Barber-Greene, Adnun Engineering & Manufacturing Company developed the first self-propelled, free-traveling asphalt pavers; however, their designs differed significantly. (HCEA Archives photo)

A CMI PR225 Roto-Mill pavement profiler in 1977. (HCEA Archives photo)

Today's top stories

Wadsworth Brothers Targets Year-End Completion of UDOT's I-15 Shepard Lane Interchange

DEVELON Introduces DEF-Free Compact Track Loaders

Komatsu Partners With AIM Intelligent Machines for Autonomous Machine Operation

Work Begins On $141M Weld Energy Center in Colorado

VIDEO: WM 'Landfill of the Future' Advances Toward Autonomous Equipment Testing

Johnson Crane Hire Celebrates 50th Anniversary With MMS and Tadano, Raise Funds for Hope Haven Home

Gov. Hochul Announces Completion of $161M Rehab Project

Western Global Introduces FirePro Fuel Storage Solution

Read more about...

Asphalt / Concrete / Paving Historical Historical Construction Equipment Association

Our Main Office

Construction Equipment Guide
470 Maryland Drive
Fort Washington, PA 19034
800-523-2200

About Us

Construction Equipment Guide covers the nation with its four regional newspapers, offering construction and industry news and information along with new and used construction equipment for sale from dealers in your area. Now we extend those services and information to the internet. Making it as easy as possible to find the news and equipment that you need and want.

Contents Copyrighted 2026, by Construction Equipment Guide, which is a Registered Trademark, registered in the U.S. Patent Office. Registration number 0957323. All rights reserved, nothing may be reprinted or reproduced (including framing) in whole or part without written permission from the publisher. All editorial material, photographs, drawings, letters, and other material will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and are subject to Construction Equipment Guide’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially. Contributor articles do not necessarily reflect the policy or opinions of this publication.

Read our privacy policy here.
Mastodon

Looking Back: Paving

Today's top stories

Read more about...

Stay Ahead of the Market