Asphalt concrete (commonly called
asphalt,
blacktop, or
pavement in North America, and
tarmac or
bitumen macadam in Great Britain and Ireland) is a
composite material commonly used to surface
roads,
parking lots, and
airports. It consists of
mineral aggregate bound together with
asphalt, laid in layers, and compacted. The process was refined and enhanced by Belgian inventor and U.S. immigrant Edward de Smedt. It is increasingly being used as the core of
embankment dams.