Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Road oiling

The photo below is from the now and then thread Daniel posted, why did they oil the road? I can't believe its for keeping the dust down as i have read elsewhere, water would do just a good a job and would not make a gooey mess.

Was it Bernie Ecclestone's idea to make the street racing more interesting?

Possibly spraying bitumen emulsion prior to covering with chippings and rolling ??

That makes more sense Pinz! What year approx is this?

Pinz always makes sense Phil, if he's correct according to Dan's tumblr, Liverpool acquired its first roller in 1867 called The Demon Crusher, though i think that photo is well after that.

Well did they really oil the roads,how strange?

I believe that's what the orginal comment as to the image states from Liverpool Record Office. However in reality it may not be oil as such, but definitely some road surface liquid.

Thanks Dan.

Indeed, thanks Dan. The thread got a bit distorted (as you saw). Some distressed gentlefolk who are only "slightly" bewildered on here !

They still use it in the US,also known as tack coat. It is a form of light bitumen and is used to keep the dust down.

Tack coat is also very widely used in the UK,most often when overlaying old surfaces with new asphalt.The emulsion pump used in the photo is not too different from the ones in use today.

Most commonly used is "Leotak". Made by Lion Emulsions. It's a watery brown liquid when sprayed on the existing tarmac. After a few minutes the water content 'vaps off leaving black bitumen as a key for the new coat of ashalt or tarmac.

As Pete says, a handpump pressurises the barrel of emulsion and a separate worker sprays the surface. Not much changed over the years!

I bought a barrel of Leotak moons ago to spread over the driveway at home. Pour it out, brush it around, spread 1/8th to dust chippings on it, play on it with the garden roller. That surface lasted years. Only drawback.... throw everything away that was used. Bucket, watering can, brushes. My folks weren't best pleased !

Many moons ago I worked as a volunteer at Liverpool RO helping catalogue the City Engineer's photo collection from which this picture probably comes. The collection includes numerous images from the late 1800s and early 1900s of roads being sprayed to keep down dust, and the captions record a variety of different proprietary compounds being used, presumably in an attempt to determine which was the most effective.