Tarmac, properly referred to as bituminous macadam or "Bitmac" for short. Tarmac has become a popular, although technically incorrect, term for both bitmac and for asphalt used to surface pavements, highways and even internal floors.
Tarmac is suitable for areas to be trafficked by vehicles, such as drives and forecourts, and can be used for paths, although we are not overly keen on using tarmac for garden paths. The wearing course (the uppermost surface) can be 'coloured' by using a coloured binder, often with coloured aggregates, or by incorporating coloured, coated chippings into a HRA wearing course.
Machine Laying Tarmac
In general, all tarmac should be machine laid by an paver machine except where it would be impossible/impractical to use a paver. Such exceptions include very small areas (such as some private driveways), confined spaces and footpaths. Driveway design contractor will ascertain which is the most appropriate laying method to use.
To try and clear up the confusion and get the terminology correct, here's a brief explanation....
- Bitumen is a product of the oil-refining and petro-chemical industries. Very basically, it is the thick, sticky, residual goo that's left over when all the useful fuel oils, such as kerosene, petrol, diesel, etc., have been extracted by ('A complicated process that is carried out at a Refinery and is used to separate crude oil into different useful products','Definition:');fractional distillation of a crude oil.
- Macadam is a process of binding together smaller aggregates, as pioneered by the legendary John MacAdam in the 19th century (although there are tales of the Chinese having used a form of "macadam" as far back as 3000BC). His work resulted in the development of tar-based macadams, which became abbreviated to Tar-mac. Nowadays, we use bitumen from the oil industry rather than naturally occurring tar, and therefore we now have bitumen macadam or, as we call it in the trade, bitmac.
- Asphalt, according to British and European (CEN) definitions, is a mixture of bitumen and minerals. However, in the US, they use the term 'asphalt' for what we in Britain and the rest of Europe refer to as a Bitumen. This is often the source of much of the confusion.