'''Asphalt''' concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in [[North America]], and tarmac, bitumen macadam, or rolled asphalt in the [[Country:United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] and the Republic of [[Country:Ireland|Ireland]]) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parking lots, airports, and the core of embankment dams. Asphalt mixtures have been used in pavement construction since the beginning of the twentieth century. 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 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_de_Smedt Edward De Smedt].