Oldest Concrete Street in the United States

Abstract

The first concrete street in the United States is over 100 years old and is still in use today. As an experiment to improve street conditions in Bellefontaine, Ohio, in 1891, the city council hired George Bartholomew of Buckeye Portland Cement Co. to provide the concrete for an 8-foot segment of pavement next to the hitching posts. The city council was initially skeptical about the durability of the concrete pavement. Two years later, the square surrounding the courthouse was also paved, creating the first concrete street. The construction of the street followed the same techniques that had been developed for sidewalk construction, with slabs formed in 5 ft squares and tar paper between adjacent slabs. A two-layer pavement system was used, with a 4 in base course that had maximum-sized aggregate of 1 1/2 in with a water-cement ratio of 0.60. The top course had maximum-sized aggregate of 1/2 in with a water-cement ratio of 0.45.