The Roman Road Project - All Roads Lead to...Glasgow

Road construction has officially begun! Mud was splashed, rocks were moved, students were inspired, and teachers are sore.

Normally, I don't post pictures of my students in public spaces, but my phone camera is so bad, I don't think you can see their faces. They built this part of the road in just 45 minutes. I expected my students to complain, but half of my first-period class asked to return for second period! I had to say no due to a lack of supplies. I've since ordered more boots and gloves to accommodate extra students. 

When we started moving rocks, we quickly realized that we would need to demarcate the borders of the road which we had previously measured and marked with our gromas. It worked great! But it was hard to keep the lines straight even with the assistance of the wooden rods we had set up for this purpose. We had to realign frequently.

I've had people ask about excavation and why we aren't doing it. Answer: time and resources. It must have taken the Romans a LONG time to excavate. According to Dr. Tyson Rupnow (my DOTD road expert), the Romans would have built right onto a surface especially if it were swampy just like ours. No need to dig down when the ground you're laying the road on is already low.

Here's a time-lapse video of that first-period class.

Look how great we did in only one day!

These students from another local school visited us for their Career Day. They wanted to know how they might use their interest in classics in the real world. One wants to be a teacher and the other a civil engineer. They had a great time helping us build the road too.