You can go to work, drop off you kids, go to the gym and visit loved ones with ease because of it. As a society on wheels, asphalt is arguably the most important material for our day to day mobility. Ninety six percent of all roads in the U.S. amount to more than two million miles of asphalt. Imagine instead mud roads, an eight-lane dirt freeway or parking in mud when you visit the supermarket.

Over a century ago, mud held the nation prisoner for months at a time. Poor roads kept most people from traveling more than 20 miles from their homes during their lifetime dictating travel schedules. Not only was the delivery of goods and services expensive and unpredictable it also, kept children from school, doctors from house calls and mail from collection.