Is Tar Still Used on Roads?

Mostly no. As of 2025, new road surfaces in almost all countries are built with petroleum-derived bitumen (often called asphalt), not coal tar. The word “tarmac” persists in everyday language, but modern highways, streets, and chip-seal (“tar-and-chip”) treatments overwhelmingly use bitumen-based binders. Limited, legacy, or highly specialized uses of tar-derived products survive in a few niches, but they are rare and shrinking due to health, environmental, and regulatory pressures.

Tar versus Asphalt/Bitumen: What’s the Difference?

Coal tar is a by-product of coal gasification and coke production. Early roadbuilding sometimes used tar as the binder in macadam surfaces—hence “tarmacadam,” shortened to “tarmac.” By contrast, bitumen is the heavy fraction from petroleum refining; in the United States, people often use “asphalt” to refer both to the bituminous binder and the hot-mix material (aggregate plus binder). Modern pavements—whether dense hot-mix, warm-mix, or chip seals—are overwhelmingly bitumen-based. Many people still say “tarmac” for airport aprons or blacktop roads, but those pavements are almost always bituminous, not tar-bound.

Why Tar Fell Out of Use

The decline of tar in road construction stems from a mix of industrial, health, and performance factors. The following points summarize the main drivers that pushed agencies and contractors toward bitumen and away from coal tar.

• Supply shift: As cities phased out coal gasification and heavy industry modernized, readily available coal tar sources dwindled; petroleum refining reliably supplies bitumen worldwide.
• Health and environment: Coal tar contains high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), many of which are carcinogenic and persistent. Research linked coal tar pavement sealants and legacy tar-bound materials to elevated PAH levels in urban sediments and dust.
• Regulation: Many jurisdictions now restrict or ban coal tar–based pavement products, especially sealants, tightening procurement standards for public works.
• Worker safety and odor: Tar’s fumes are more noxious; occupational exposure limits and best practices favor lower-PAH binders.
• Performance and practicality: Modern polymer-modified bitumens, emulsions, and warm-mix technologies offer better handling, temperature susceptibility control, and durability for roads.
• Cost and consistency: Bitumen supply chains and specifications are standardized globally, simplifying quality control and lifecycle planning.

Taken together, these factors made bitumen the default pavement binder, with tar relegated to niche or legacy contexts where compatibility or specific chemical resistance once mattered.

What Roads Use Today

Contemporary road networks rely on bitumen in various engineered forms. Dense-graded hot-mix and warm-mix asphalt cover most high-traffic pavements. Surface treatments such as chip seals and slurry/micro-surfacing use bitumen emulsions, not coal tar. Agencies increasingly specify polymer-modified bitumen for rutting and cracking resistance and use reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) to improve sustainability without reintroducing tar.

Are There Any Exceptions?

Coal tar and tar-like products have not disappeared completely, but remaining uses are limited and increasingly regulated. The examples below illustrate where you might still encounter tar-related materials around pavements, though not typically in mainstream highway surfacing.

• Legacy maintenance: Older tar-bound surfaces—especially in very old streets or airfields—may require compatible repair techniques to avoid binder incompatibility. Even then, agencies often encapsulate or replace with bituminous materials.
• Fuel- and chemical-resistant coatings: Historically, some airfield/tank-farm areas used tar-derived or tar-epoxy coatings for hydrocarbon resistance. Today, polymer-modified bitumen, synthetic resins, or epoxy systems generally replace coal tar, with tar-epoxies increasingly restricted.
• Pavement sealants (non-road settings): “Refined tar-based” sealants were once common on driveways and parking lots in North America. Many states, provinces, and municipalities now prohibit their sale or use due to PAH pollution; asphalt-based or acrylic alternatives have become the norm. Roads departments rarely use tar sealants.

These are narrow cases. For typical roads, streets, and highways, coal tar is effectively absent from modern specifications and procurement.

Regulation and Standards Snapshot (2024–2025)

Policies differ by region, but the trend is consistent: reduce or eliminate coal tar in pavement applications, especially sealants, and rely on bitumen-based systems that meet environmental and worker-safety standards.

• United States and Canada: Hundreds of local jurisdictions and multiple states/provinces restrict or ban coal tar–based pavement sealants; transportation agencies specify asphalt/bitumen binders for roadworks. Federal and academic studies have highlighted PAH concerns from tar-based sealants.
• European Union and United Kingdom: Coal tar pitch (high-temperature) is classified as carcinogenic and tightly controlled under REACH; road specifications call for bitumen. Legacy tar-bound materials, if excavated, are handled as special waste in many countries.
• Australia and New Zealand: State and national specifications standardize on bitumen; tar is not permitted for road surfacing in modern practice.
• Asia, Africa, Latin America: National standards and market practice center on bitumen. Where coal tar products appear, they are generally in industrial coatings rather than road surfacing, and usage is declining.

While the details vary, the regulatory arc is clear: phasing out coal tar in pavements and favoring bitumen-based technologies supported by contemporary standards.

Common Misconceptions

Because everyday language lingers long after engineering practice changes, people often mislabel modern pavements. These notes help decode the terminology you’re likely to hear.

• “Tarmac” ≠ tar: The term has become generic, but modern “tarmac” surfaces at airports and roads are almost always asphalt/bitumen mixes.
• “Tar-and-chip” roads: The surface dressing is a bitumen emulsion with aggregate chips; despite the name, coal tar is not used.
• That “tar smell”: Fresh asphalt’s odor comes from bitumen and additives, not coal tar.

Clearing up these terms helps avoid confusion about what materials are actually on the road.

Bottom Line

Modern roads use bitumen, not coal tar. The historical role of tar in roadbuilding is now largely a matter of terminology and legacy maintenance, with regulations and environmental science reinforcing its phase-out.

Summary

Coal tar is no longer a standard road-building material. Contemporary pavements—hot-mix, warm-mix, chip seals, and micro-surfacing—use petroleum bitumen, often polymer-modified and increasingly recycled. Tar’s exit reflects supply changes, health and environmental risks from PAHs, and evolving regulations. Remaining tar-related uses are niche, mostly outside mainstream road surfacing, and continue to decline.

Is tar still used today?

Wood tar is still used to seal traditional wooden boats and the roofs of historic, shingle-roofed churches, as well as painting exterior walls of log buildings. Tar is also a general disinfectant.

Is a road made of tar or asphalt?

Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and tarmac, bitmac or bitumen macadam in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parking lots, airports, and the core of embankment dams.

Is tar the same as asphalt?

No, tar and asphalt are not the same; asphalt is a petroleum-based material used for roads and roofing, while tar is a product of coal or wood distillation used for specialized coatings and older road types like “tarmac”. The primary difference lies in their chemical composition and origin: asphalt contains aliphatic hydrocarbons, making it more resistant to oxidation but vulnerable to sunlight, whereas tar contains aromatic hydrocarbons, giving it greater stability and chemical resistance but less durability in modern applications.
 
Asphalt

• Origin: Derived from crude oil. 
• Composition: A mixture of bitumen (the petroleum binder) and aggregates like sand and crushed stone. 
• Properties: More flexible, elastic, and durable than tar, making it ideal for high-traffic roads and runways. 
• Uses: Modern road construction and roofing. 

Tar

• Origin: Produced from the destructive distillation of organic materials like coal or wood. 
• Composition: Contains complex aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, and other compounds not found in asphalt. 
• Properties: High chemical and acid resistance but more brittle and prone to degradation from UV light and temperature changes. 
• Uses: Historically used in road construction (forming tarmac) and in specialized applications requiring high chemical resistance. 

Key Differences at a Glance

• Source: Petroleum (asphalt) vs. coal/wood (tar). 
• Chemical Structure: Aliphatic chains (asphalt) vs. aromatic rings (tar). 
• Durability: Asphalt is more durable and flexible; tar is more chemically stable but less durable. 
• Modern Use: Asphalt is standard for modern infrastructure; tar is used for specialized coatings. 

Do they still use tar on roads?

Both asphalt and tar have been used in paving, but one has stood the test of time while the other has largely faded from modern road construction. The differences go beyond looks, right down to their composition, durability, and environmental impact.