Asphalt: A History

344 Pages·2021·5.019 MB·English

by  Kenneth O'Reilly

ASPHALT

A S P H A LT
A History Kenneth O’Reilly
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln
© 2021 by the Board of Regents of
the University of Nebraska
All rights reserved. Manufactured in
the United States of America.
Publication of this volume was assisted by a grant
from the Friends of the University of Nebraska Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: O’Reilly, Kenneth, author.
Title: Asphalt: a history / Kenneth O’Reilly.
Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
[2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2020030292
isbn 9781496222077 (hardback)
isbn 9781496226365 (epub)
isbn 9781496226372 (mobi)
isbn 9781496226389 (pdf)
Subjects: lcsh: Asphalt— History. | Asphalt—
Environmental aspects— History. |
Asphalt— Social aspects— History.
Classification: lcc ta455.a7 .o74 2021
ddc 620.1/9609— dc23
lc record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2020030292
Set in Minion Pro by Laura Buis.
Designed by L. Auten.
Cover: Highway 63 Bitumen Slick, +57°1’9.82”,
-111°34’47.97”, Syncrude Mildred Lake, Alberta,
Canada. This image is part of Louis Helbig’s Beautiful
Destruction project about the Alberta Oil/Tar Sands.
The project is presented as an exhibition, a book, and
at beautifuldstruction .ca. In the Beautiful Destruction
book, the image “Highway 63 Bitumen Slick” is
captioned with its geographical coordinates and in
the languages of the two First Nations within whose
territories the Oil/Tar Sands exist. In Dene Sulin the
name is Tulu k’é 63 t’á tłes tué boret’ı, and in Cree it
is 63 mēskanaw ēkwa askiy-pimiy ē-pimicowahk.
For the latest arrivals:
Brigid, Ollie, James,
Bobby, and Theo

And mark what object did present itself.
Shakespeare,
As You Like It, ca. 1599

Contents
Preface xi
Introduction:
Power, Culture, Space 1
PPaarrtt 11.. BBeeffoorree BBllaacckkttoopp
1. Nature:
Tar Pits and
Asphalt Volcanoes 15
2. Use:
Fired Bricks and
Mummy Wars 24
3. Faith:
Asphalt’s Dark Ages 37
PPaarrtt 22.. CCoommiinngg ttoo AAmmeerriiccaa
4. Triumph:
The Blacktop Dawn 49
5. Duty:
Conquering Poverty
and Mud, Reich
and Rising Sun 82
6. Crusades:
Asphalt in the Cold War 116