"The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, at the Morgantown Energy Technology Center assigned EG&G Morgantown Operations the task to investigate the potential use of tar produced during mild gasification as a road construction material. The investigation has drawn upon the published literature to determine the application, specifications, and experiences of road construction with tar produced from coal. The references for the published literature were dated since road building with coal tar has been replaced by less expensive asphalt. Abundant and less expensive asphalt, the residual material from oil refining, has replaced coal tar products in the road building, industry and, as a consequence, current publications covering the usage of coal tar for road construction are unavailable. Finally, a telephone survey was conducted with various coal tar processers and roof coating manufacturers to determine present-day practice, usage, and economics."