<P> Turnpikes were also later built in the United States . They were usually built by private companies under a government franchise . They typically paralleled or replaced routes already with some volume of commerce, hoping the improved road would divert enough traffic to make the enterprise profitable . Plank roads were particularly attractive as they greatly reduced rolling resistance and mitigated the problem of getting mired in mud . Another improvement, better grading to lessen the steepness of the worst stretches, allowed draft animals to haul heavier loads . </P> <P> By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, new methods of highway construction had been pioneered by the work of two British engineers, Thomas Telford and John Loudon McAdam, and by the French road engineer Pierre - Marie - Jérôme Trésaguet . </P> <P> The first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution was John Metcalf, who constructed about 180 miles (290 km) of turnpike road, mainly in the north of England, from 1765, when Parliament passed an act authorising the creation of turnpike trusts to build new toll funded roads in the Knaresborough area . Metcalf won a contract to build a three - mile (5 km) section of road between Minskip and Ferrensby on a new road from Harrogate to Boroughbridge . He explored the section of countryside alone and worked out the most practical route . </P> <P> He believed a good road should have good foundations, be well drained and have a smooth convex surface to allow rainwater to drain quickly into ditches at the side . He understood the importance of good drainage, knowing it was rain that caused most problems on the roads . He worked out a way to build a road across a bog using a series of rafts made from ling (a type of heather) and furze (gorse) tied in bundles as foundations . This established his reputation as a road builder since other engineers had believed it could not be done . He acquired a mastery of his trade with his own method of calculating costs and materials, which he could never successfully explain to others . </P>

When did the earliest cities come into existence write the names of any five such cities