Media item

Nederlandsche Basalt Maatschappij

Corporate film about the Dutch asphalt industry.

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Corporate film about the Dutch asphalt industry. With the expansion of the number of automobiles, and the increasing popularity of the bicycle, the so-called called Wegenkwestie (“Roads Issue”) arose at the beginning of the twentieth century. The roads in the Netherlands turned out to be very outdated: they were too narrow, bumpy, and dusty. Moreover, there were far too few roads. From 1920 onwards, the Netherlands seriously began to develop a local, regional, and national road network. Asphalt, a relatively new product at the time, would play a major role in this effort. Asphalt is strong, smooth, and easy to use. And paved roads are not dusty, which was also a major advantage in terms of national health. This corporate film shows the work of Dutch asphalt companies such as the Nederlandsche Basalt Maatschappij, NV Bitumenweg, and H.P. Vale Arnhem. We see the raw materials arriving by barge, the processing of these materials into the final product, and the different stages involved in paving the roads. Amid the footage depicting the roads, we see the Vereeniging het Nederlandsche Wegencongres (Dutch Road Congress Association) paying a visit to the Nederlandsche Basalt Maatschappij in Zaandam. This association, a lobbying group that was composed of industrialists, car enthusiasts, engineers, and cyclists, would play an important role in the debate on the road network in the Netherlands. The association met annually in Scheveningen.

Creator:
Mullens, Willy (director) / Haghe Film (producer)
Publication date:
31 December 1924
Length:
50:11

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Type:
video
Original format:
Film 
User:
eye film instituut nederland
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