basalt, for roads, is as old as the romans, if not older.  iirc, the 
appia antiqua in rome, as well as many of the roads leading to rome, 
are covered in rectangular basalt blocks...still wearing well under the 
assault of modern traffic, unadorned with asphalt.  a bit rough to 
drive, though.

bill
felton, ca
where the rain has turned many streets into slalom courses, the pylons 
being potholes...don't find many of them in basalt block streets...

On Apr 27, 2005, at 4:44 AM, Andrew Midkiff wrote:

> When we visited the Cape Verde islands a few years
> ago, their roads are made the same way, but instead of
> wood, they use small cross-sections of columnar
> basalt.

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