First Domestic Asphalt Paving Companies

In their article, author considers the historical experience of introducing new methods of road paving into the practice of road maintenance in St. Petersburg. Obviously, this example is of interest to modern city authorities. The purpose of the study is to determine the degree of development of the asphalt production industry and methods of attracting firms and companies to manufacture road surfaces in the urban environment of the Russian Empire. The topic has practically not been considered by Russian and foreign historians. The source base for the article is documentary materials from St. Petersburg archives. The information on the activities of enterprises producing asphalt and road works was taken from the funds of the St. Petersburg office of the State Bank of Russia, the city government of the capital, and the boards of asphalt enterprises. Modern methods of paving Russian city streets have had relatively brief history. They began to be widely introduced into the urban environment in large economic centers of pre-revolutionary Russia only in the last quarter of the XIX century. The first such pavements appeared in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw, Odessa and other Russian cities during that period. It should be noted that due to various reasons the asphalt production industry in the Russian Empire was poorly developed, by the First World War, it was in deep crisis. Subsequent events in Russia definitively scaled back the asphalt production in the country, which was revived only by the 1930s.