World's Longest Driveway?

A search in Google for the world's longest driveway turns up the Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road in the United Arab Emirates.

Stretching for 7.3 miles and climbing nearly 4,000 feet it is no doubt a long mountain road, but is it a driveway?

Possibly Not!

The road itself ends in a car park and passes a luxury hotel (the Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet Al Ain Hotel), a radar station and the Palace of Jebel Hefeet (belonging to the country's rulers) along the way.

Can a 3 lane road that doesn't lead to a single property be classed as a driveway? It has several shorter roads (or driveways) leading off it to the above properties, but it ends in a car park.

The road is tarmac, rather than a dirt track, so perhaps when it was first constructed, the palace (nearest the summit) was the only building and therefore the epitaph of driveway was more deserving?

The Greatest Drive

Regardless of its driveway status, the road is also regarded as one of the world's greatest drives.

Featuring 21 corners, three lanes (two climbing and one descending) and an immaculate surface, it has featured in a number of films and is frequently used by car manufacturers and owners to demonstrate and test their vehicles.

It is also used by cyclists as a gruelling challenge whilst training and is home to an annual road cycling competition.

Want to see what we're talking about? The following YouTube clip shows the British TV Show Fifth Gear putting a car through its paces on the road.

If you fancy having a go yourself, it is just a 2 hour drive from Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The Real World's Longest Driveway?

So, if the Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road isn't the world's longest driveway, what is?

Well, the Guiness World Records website doesn't seem to have the answer, but our guess would be that some farm dirt road in Canada, America, Australia, Brazil or perhaps Africa would win the title.

Any thoughts? And do they want us to pattern imprinted concrete it?

Pattern Imprinted Concrete Driveways, Poulton-le-Fylde

Based near to the picturesque market town of Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, Northern Cobblestone install stamped concrete driveways, patios and more throughout Blackpool, Lancashire and the North West.

Poulton-le-Fylde Driveways

The following are a small selection of our pattern imprinted concrete installations within our home town of Poulton-le-Fylde. Please visit our website for more.

 

 Basalt grey ashlar slate stone style driveway with darker grey cobble edging

 

 Burnt orange mews cobblestone style driveway in matt finish

 Ashar slate style driveway in country sandstone effect for a customer in Poulton-le-Fylde

 Call for a Quote

If you live in the area or perhaps nearby in Great Eccleston, Knott End, Normoss, Pilling, Preesall, Singleton, Skippool or Staining and you're looking for a local installer of pattern imprinted concrete driveways in Poulton-le-Fylde, why not give Northern Cobblestone a call.

Long Lasting Concrete

If you've ever used a pneumatic drill to break some up, you'll know concrete is a hard wearing and long lasting material.

But how long lasting is it? Well, every installation and circumstance is different, but how about 2000 years give or take a few?

Pantheon, Rome

Built nearly two millennia ago, the Pantheon in Rome is a testament to Roman ingenuity and the versatility and durability of concrete.

The concrete dome roof weighs 4,535 metric tons and varies in thickness from 6.4 metres at the base to 1.2 metres around the oculus, a circular opening in the centre that provides natural light for the vast interior.

What have the Romans ever done for us?

As the classic line from Monty Python's Life of Brian goes, sadly we can't claim the Romans invented concrete, but theirs' was perhaps the first civilisation to make widespread innovative use of it.

Freed from the limitations imposed by stone and brick material, they experimented with increasingly complex structural designs including arches, domes and vaults.

Pattern Imprinted Concrete

It would be interesting to see what one of their architects would make of modern portland cement based concrete and other innovations that have taken place in recent years.

Pattern imprinted concrete is one such innovation, providing long lasting and hard wearing driveways, paths and patios with all the appearance of cobbles, granite, slate, flagstones, tiles or even wood.

We're not sure whether we carry any Roman genes, but here at Northern Cobblestone, we're proud to carry on their art, installing pattern imprinted concrete to the homes and businesses of Blackpool, Lancashire and the wider North West.