History of Highway Transportation

History of Highway Part 1-Vehicles

The first of a series of Chronological Descriptions of the Development of Vehicles. Roads and Bridges. Book rights are reserved. Reprinted by permission of the author and "Highway Magazine."

ANTIQUITY. Prehistoric man's first method of transporting goods was his own arms or his back. He carried what objects he could and those too large were dragged. Early man, in casting about for a method of transporting his possessions with less effort, brought about the use of a cluster of branches on which objects were laid for dragging to the "squatting place" or to the cave. This naturally led to the addition of runners under a platform of sticks. Man first dragged these sleds, but with the subjection of animals, they were hitched to the sleds.

In the development of the wheel, the first stage was undoubtedly in the form of a log. With the passage of time, man discovered that a log under a very heavy object greatly aided in moving the object, and in very gradual stages he evolved a wheel. At first a number of wooden rollers were placed under the object being moved. The outgrowth of this was the invention of a cart consisting of a platform on rollers with a pin or some sort of an anchor to prevent the rollers from moving out from under the load. Centuries passed before the wheel as it is known today came into use.

The first wheels were hewn from solid wood; later wheels of solid stone appeared.

The first carts were used for carrying building materials or grain. Man preferred to walk rather than ride the unwieldy and rough riding carts. When a chief or notable traveled, a litter or the back of a beast of burden, was used. At a much later date two and four wheel chariots appeared.

All of this occurred long before there were written records. The discovery of the wheel (often considered man's greatest discovery), the taming of the horse, ox, camel, dog, and other animals, occurred in antiquity before man could record his achievements.

1715 B. C.-About this time, according to the Bible, chariots were in use among the Egyptians. "And he made him to ride in the second chariot." (Genesis 41:43).

1760 B. C. Wagons were in use by the Egyptians. "And Jacob rose up from Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, and their little ones, and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him." (Genesis 46:5).

1600 B. C. Carvings of chariots on stones have been found. The chariots were used for war and hunting; hence they were made with as little weight as possible so the small horses of that time could pull them with the greatest pos, sible speed.

1400 В. С.-A chariot found in the tomb of Yuaa, father-in-law of Amen ophis III, is now in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Cario. It is a lightly built and gracefully constructed vehicle with wheels of six spokes splayed out where the spokes enter the hub in order to give lateral strength. The spokes were mortised into a very narrow rim which was made in two pieces. Three layers of leather were used for a tire. Probably the leather was used not so much for the cushion effect as to hold the wheel together.

560 B. C. Vitruvius (Book X, Chap. 6) recorded that large columns for the temple of Diana at Ephesus were transported to Ctesiphon by rolling. A short axle at each end of the column rested in a bearing in a frame which could be rolled or pulled by man or animal.

Large objects, such as statues, were often rolled after mounting between two large wheels anchored together with heavy timbers which joined the rims of the wheels, thus the object to be moved was surrounded with a cylindrical crate. During the time of Christ and through the Middle Ages very little new in the way of land transportation was introduced. The backs of camels, horses and other animals were used as mounts for the merchants, messengers, knight-errant or notables, while goods were moved by cumbersome carts, wagons, or very often, by man-power. Slaves and captives of war were used to a great extent for transportation during the time of Christ. Peasants were drafted into service by the wealthy land owners during the Middle Ages.

1474 A. D.-German Coaches. The first coach was used in Germany by