Roads in Russia have always been difficult, as well as logistics in general. Providing the country with quality roads was considered a challenge for a variety of reasons. Until the 19th century, the road surface in the empire was made mainly of cobblestones. However, by the middle of the century, the country began to massively switch to another material - wood, or even completely turned out to be from any covering, just tamping the ground well.
This is how it looks.
For the sake of fairness, it should be immediately noted that wooden roads in Russia (and not only) were made before the 19th century. True, in most cases they did not differ in any respectable quality and directness of the coating, they were extremely uncomfortable and not very beautiful. Our speech will focus on the famous end pavements. This invention is really Russian. The end pavements owe their appearance to the domestic engineer Guryev.
Something is wrong.
End pavements began to appear in the first half of the 19th century. Before that, mostly cobblestone pavements were made. However, they were extremely inconvenient. Passengers in crews traveling on such roads were constantly shaking. Most importantly, the stone pavements were terribly noisy and slippery. That is why Guriev decided that the best option for big cities would be the transition from stone to wood.
The surfaced pavement in Paris.
The first end pavements appeared in St. Petersburg. As an experiment, the authorities ordered to cover two streets in a new pattern. The experiment was successful. As a result, there were only more such pavements, including in other cities of the country, including Moscow. The experience was even adopted abroad. Similar roads began to be made in France and England. In Russia itself, end pavements were preserved right up to the 30s of the XX century. For a long time in St. Petersburg the entire Nevsky Prospect was wooden.
Used in the XX century.
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Another important advantage of the new pavements was that the material for them was obtained quite easily. The most commonly used blanks from pine (they are the least likely to crack). The wooden ends were set in the ground, and the gaps between them were filled with bitumen and a mixture of var with anthracene oil. At the edges, the pavement was sealed with clay and resin. This design served for 3-4 years.
Not without cons.
The new pavements were quiet, cheap and easily reproducible. However, this method of paving had its drawbacks. In places where there were floods or floods, wooden blocks often floated up. In addition, the tree perfectly absorbed and accumulated a variety of odors. Including the smell of horse manure. Finally, the pavements at night were simply dismantled by local residents who needed to get wood for kindling stoves.
