Paving the Streets

In the dark of night, skilled workers manipulate two-story high machines to scrape the damaged old asphalt from the surface of the streets into the largest of dump trucks. Later they return with more huge machines to pour the steaming new asphalt onto the roadways in an even layer, inches deep, followed by road rollers to create a seamless, even roadway.

The landscape is strikingly empty—all car owners have been warned not to park their cars in the area—stragglers have been towed away. Movable floodlights illuminate the work, which must be done decisively and quickly, as the asphalt cools, with a precision that leaves no gaps.

This technological dance involves the plan and the execution; the evolution of the technology that has made it possible; the machines themselves; and the workers whose skill is in managing dangerous hot substances with the required precision of the job. It is an engineering feat that is almost unseen by the drivers on the roads, from city streets to Interstates. From every angle this project begs to be documented.