This title was first published in 2003. The history of roads in Great Britain has not been one of steady development, but rather, one that has waxed and waned in response to social, military and economic needs, and also as to whether there have been alternative methods of transport available. Paralleling this, the technical aspects of road construction - with the one great exception of Roman roads - can be seen as a fitful progression of improvement followed by neglect as the roadmaker has responded, albeit tardily on occasion, to the needs of the road user. This text describes the technical development of British roads in relation to the needs of the time, and thereby touches upon its relation to the history of the country more generally.

This title was first published in 2003. The history of roads in Great Britain has not been one of steady development, but rather, one that has waxed and waned in response to social, military and economic needs, and also as to whether there have been alternative methods of transport available. Paralleling this, the technical aspects of road construction - with the one great exception of Roman roads - can be seen as a fitful progression of improvement followed by neglect as the roadmaker has responded, albeit tardily on occasion, to the needs of the road user. This text describes the technical development of British roads in relation to the needs of the time, and thereby touches upon its relation to the history of the country more generally.

This book studies the historical development of the tunnelling industry, with emphasis on the technical innovations on which advances in that industry have depended. The main part of the book comprises a detailed examination of the major technical advances in both hard rock and soft ground tunnelling, discussing established methods such as tunnelling machines, compressed air tunnelling and prefabricated tunnel linings, as well as more recent topics such as pressurised face shields, extruded linings, hydraulic rock drills, and small-diameter tunnelling systems. In addition, the emergence of a highly innovative tunnelling industry in Japan is discussed; a parallel being drawn between this development and that in nineteenth century Britain. From these considerations, the conditions that have allowed technical innovation to flourish in the tunnelling industry are identified, leading to a more general discussion of the nature of technical innovation in this industry and beyond.