As protests mount against our current model of roads and the cement industry, this book identifies a few obstacles that make our built environment feel so overbearing.

The excavation preparatory to road-building has become standard for all construction and "improvement" project, entailing constant displacement of billions of cubic feet of soil, sand, and gravel.
Collateral damage soon makes itself felt in rivers, quarries, and in the air we breathe, not to mention lethal vehicular accidents. And yet asphalt fever has never flagged: we must unceasingly repair, thicken, and spread an infrastructure that devours acres of public funds. This book provides a remarkable cross-section of a vicious circle affecting technology, the economy, and politics. A must for imagining less invasive possibilities for our future.