Road engineering and traditional building methods: The example of old roads in the Gran Canaria Island

Abstract

The article presents a historical documentary research work, supplemented by field work and technical analysis, on traditional road engineering in insular territory isolated from continental road networks. The work studies the organization of the road network and its evolution, typology and construction techniques, tools and traditional materials, from the pre-Hispanic period and the centuries following the Moorish Conquest, up to the 19th century. The many divisions and mountainous terrain of Gran Canaria has traditionally conditioned the routes of roads and the engineering required for their construction, The building techniques required in traditional roads range from land levelling, to retention, drainage and overpass works. Cobble stones were systematically employed in road surfacing and there was wide-spread use of dry-stone walling.